YouTube to lift ban on Donald Trump

Move follows similar lifting of restrictions at Twitter and Facebook

Election 2024 Trump (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

YouTube has reversed its ban on Donald Trump, and he will be allowed to post videos once again.

Mr Trump was banned from posting on YouTube in the wake of 6 January, when it joined other platforms such as Twitter and Facebook amid fears his account could be used to promote violence.

Many of those platforms have already reversed their bans. He has been allowed back on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Now YouTube says it will do the same, and he will be allowed to post again.

“Starting today, The Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and the ability to upload new content is restored,” said Leslie Miller, Youtube’s vice president for public policy. “We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, balancing that with the importance of preserving the opportunity for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election.

“This channel will continue to be subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube.”

Mr Trump’s account was never actually terminated on Youtube. Instead, the company said that he had violated its policies against inciting violence and gave him a “strike”.

Since then, the channel has not been able to upload new videos. But it was never actually removed, and YouTube said that it was intending to allow him back when the risk of real world violence had reduced.

It said that threshold had now been crossed. According to YouTube, that was decided that on the basis of monitoring violent rhetoric across platforms and government safety alerts.

The changes also come as other campaigns begin ahead of the 2024 election. Other potential candidates are already using YouTube to post campaign videos and other similar content.

Mr Trump has always used YouTube differently to other platforms, such as Twitter. It mostly consists of videos from news networks, and it does not appear that Mr Trump is personally responsible for posting new content on the account.