YouTube Suspends Trump, Accuses Him of Violating Its Policies

YouTube Suspends Trump, Accuses Him of Violating Its Policies
The Google and YouTube logos are seen at the entrance to the Google offices in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 21, 2019. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
Mimi Nguyen Ly
1/12/2021
Updated:
1/13/2021

YouTube has removed new content from President Donald Trump’s account and suspended his channel for at least a week, saying that the channel violated its policies for “inciting violence.”

“After careful review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to the Donald J. Trump channel and issued a strike for violating our policies for inciting violence,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

“As a result, in accordance with our long-standing strikes system, the channel is now prevented from uploading new videos or livestreams for a minimum of seven days—which may be extended. We are also indefinitely disabling comments under videos on the channel, we’ve taken similar actions in the past for other cases involving safety concerns.”

Google did not have any further comment when asked about what aspects of the content on Trump’s channel had violated its policies.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

President Donald Trump tours a section of the border wall in Alamo, Texas, on Jan. 12, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump tours a section of the border wall in Alamo, Texas, on Jan. 12, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Earlier in the day, a video showing Trump’s speech in Alamo, Texas, was removed from the White House YouTube channel. In the speech, Trump expressed praise that 450 miles of border wall have been constructed.
“Free speech is under assault like never before,” he also said. “The 25th Amendment is of zero risk to me but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration. As the expression goes: be careful what you wish for.”

“The impeachment hoax is a continuation of the greatest and most vicious witch hunt in the history of our country, and it is causing tremendous anger and division and pain—far greater than most people will ever understand, which is very dangerous for the USA, especially at this very tender time,” he continued.

Trump later said: “Now is the time for our nation to heal, and it’s time for peace and for calm. Respect for law enforcement and the great people within law enforcement—so many are here—is the foundation of the MAGA agenda.”

“And we’re a nation of law, and we’re a nation of order. That is why we’re here today, to talk about what we must do to uphold the rule of law in America and how we must continue to support our law enforcement heroes, which is exactly what you are.”

YouTube is the latest big tech platform to have taken action against content posted by Trump. Last week, Twitter first placed restrictions on a video the president posted, before temporarily suspending his account, an action followed closely by Facebook.
Twitter two days later permanently suspended Trump’s account over two Twitter posts it cited as having violated its policies.
The House voted late Tuesday to approve a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. The resolution text blames Trump’s rhetoric for the U.S. Capitol breach last week where civil unrest and acts of violence took place amid otherwise peaceful protests in surrounding areas.

The Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol building interrupted lawmakers for several hours before proceedings resumed to debate over electoral college votes, count them, and certify them for the now-President-elect Joe Biden.

One woman, Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, died that day after being shot by Capitol Police inside the building.
It is unclear who instigated the breach of the building. A video of the event shows a left-wing activist encouraging and convincing Capitol Police to let trespassers through at several points.
Separately, the civil unrest that broke out on Capitol grounds left at least four more people dead—three due to medical reasons, and a U.S. Capitol Police officer was confirmed dead by the department on Jan. 7, due to injuries sustained while on duty responding to riots.
Janita Kan contributed to this report.