YouTube bans Trump’s channel amidst risk of violence being instigated through the medium

Ex-US President Donald Trump is being blamed for the violence which was incited at the US Capitol. Though the ex-president has not been put behind bars for this, most of the world, including some of his partners believe that it was indeed his speeches and social media posts that incited one of the worst moments in the history of the United States.

In recent reports, YouTube Chief Executive Officer Susan Wojcicki said that Donald Trump’s YouTube will remain temporarily suspended. The reason was that the world’s biggest video platform believes that there is still a high risk that he will use the online video service to incite more violence.

“Given just the warnings given by the capitol police yesterday about a potential attack today, I think it’s pretty clear that elevated violence risk remains. When the channel is reinstated, it will be subject to the same content-moderation policies that every other channel follows.”

The CEO also stated that the suspension will be lifted once it determines the risk of violence has decreased, but if the former U.S. president violates the rules, the channel will be removed again.

In the past, YouTube has been criticized time and again for allowing violent and inappropriate videos. Misinformation about the result of the U.S. election last year, including lies that Trump won, also spread on the platform.

Responding to all these, the Google-owned video-sharing platform has responded by investing in more content moderation and cracking down harder on some creators who break the rules. According to a report, the company has removed more than 9 million videos that violated YouTube’s policies.

The CEO may testify alongside other tech leaders soon at a congressional hearing focused on misinformation and online radicalization.

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