YouTube on Friday deleted a video uploaded by the Democrat-led Jan. 6 House panel that included a clip of former President Donald Trump saying the 2020 general elections were “stolen.”
“Our election integrity policy prohibits content advancing false claims that widespread fraud, errors, or glitches changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, if it does not provide sufficient context,” YouTube spokeswoman Ivy Choi said.
“We enforce our policies equally for everyone, and have removed the video uploaded by the Jan. 6 committee channel.”
The video in question was used as evidence by the Jan. 6 committee and features Trump giving an interview with Fox Business during which he makes his claim.
The video, which was uploaded on Tuesday, also reportedly included a clip of former Attorney General William Barr’s testimony, who has previously stated that he does not believe the election was stolen, NY Times reported. Regardless, YouTube, owned by Google, removed the video under its misinformation policy.
YouTube and other Big Tech platforms have stringently enacted censorship policies regarding Trump’s claims of election fraud in the 2020 general elections.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump’s supporters gathered at the U.S. Capitol to protest the certification of the election results. Violence broke out when some protesters entered the Capitol building.
Some Democrat lawmakers and corporate news outlets have continued to push a narrative that the violence at the Capitol was part of a “deadly insurrection.” But the four people who died on Jan. 6, 2021, were all apparent Trump supporters. One of them, U.S. Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, was shot by an officer, according to the U.S. Capitol Police Department.
Twitter and Facebook deplatformed Trump two days later on Jan. 8, 2021.
Trump has decried the House panel as being “highly partisan.” The panel is made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, both of whom are outspoken critics of Trump who had voted to impeach him and who were picked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
On Monday, Trump published a statement that laid out his argument for disputing the results of the 2020 general elections, which pointed to the vote-counting stopping on election night, other irregularities, and allegations of ballot trafficking in multiple states.
Trump has criticized the House panel for not allowing him, or other witnesses, to present their testimony and evidence to counter the prevailing narrative of the committee that Trump was directly responsible for the breach.
The panel this week also claimed that Trump put former Vice President Mike Pence’s life in mortal danger on Jan. 6, 2021.
Republicans have also repeatedly decried the hearings as partisan and unnecessary.
