YouTube suspends Donald Trump’s account

13 January 2021, 07:54

US President Donald Trump
Taoiseach visit to the US. Picture: PA

The video sharing website said it will also be disabling comments on the president’s channel “indefinitely”.

YouTube is suspending US President Donald Trump’s account for “a minimum of seven days” due to concerns about “the ongoing potential for violence”, the video sharing website said.

The company announced the news in a pair of tweets early on Wednesday.

“After review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to Donald J Trump’s channel for violating our policies,” YouTube said in a statement on Twitter.

“It now has its 1st strike & is temporarily prevented from uploading new content for a *minimum* of 7 days.

“Given the ongoing concerns about violence, we will also be indefinitely disabling comments on President Trump’s channel, as we’ve done to other channels where there are safety concerns found in the comments section.”

The move comes after fellow social media giants Facebook, Instagram and Twitter decided to remove the president’s accounts in the wake of last week’s attack on the US Capitol by a mob of Mr Trump’s supporters.

Twitter said in a statement on its blog on Friday it had decided to take action against Mr Trump’s account after a review of two of the president’s tweets posted on Friday found they had violated its glorification of violence policy.

Meanwhile Facebook on Thursday suspended Mr Trump’s account through to January 20, the day of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, and possibly indefinitely.

Some prominent political figures have expressed concern over the suspension of Mr Trump’s social media accounts, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling it “problematic”, while Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the move “raises a very important question” about social media companies “taking editorial decisions”.

By Press Association

More Technology News

See more More Technology News

A computer screen

Leading AI figures awarded honours

AI warning

Essays written with ChatGPT feature repetition of words and ideas – study

A broadband router

Big four broadband firms beaten by smaller rivals in latest Which? survey

A person pressing on the Tik Tok logo on the screen of a smartphone

TikTok to launch online election centres to counter misinformation

A person using a laptop

Up to eight million UK jobs at risk from AI, report says

Smartphone showing apps

One in six adolescents have experienced cyberbullying, global study finds

An Uber Eats driver

Uber Eats driver wins payout over discriminatory facial recognition checks

Rishi Sunak visits Cumbria

Sunak says UK ‘more robust’ on China than most allies

Chinese President state visit – Preparations

Minister calls China ‘security threat’ after UK and US blame Beijing for hacking

China

UK and US accuse China of ‘malicious’ global cyber attacks

A hand on a laptop

Tougher action needed to combat copycat banking websites, says Which?

Dowden

Dowden guarantees UK elections will be safe from Chinese cyber attacks

A woman’s hand pressing a key of a laptop keyboard

Cyber security agency says China behind ‘malicious’ cyber attacks on UK

A young girl uses the TikTok app on a smartphone

TikTok Youth Council holds first meetings on better online safety for teenagers

Margrethe Vestager

EU opens competition investigations into Apple, Google and Meta

Social Media Stock

Some parents coming to regard online harassment of girls as ‘normal’ – report