YouTube Extends Trump Ban, Censors Giuliani and The Epoch Times in Latest Crackdown

January 27th, 2021 4:39 PM

YouTube is the internet’s biggest video platform, and yet it appears to have allowed little room for conservative dissent.

YouTube initially suspended then-President Donald Trump’s official YouTube channel on January 12. Since then, YouTube has declared Trump’s channel will continue to be silenced. "’In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, the Donald J. Trump channel will remain suspended,’" YouTube explained to USA TODAY in an article published on Tuesday. “The suspension prevents the uploading of new videos or livestreams to the channel. Comments on the channel, which has nearly 2.8 million subscribers, are also disabled indefinitely.”

YouTube has also punished entire conservative outlets, if not by censoring them completely, by more passively undermining their ability to make money and remain viable businesses.

Stephen Gregory, editor of The Epoch Times confirmed to Just the News: "YouTube demonetized [T]he Epoch Times and related accounts last week." Gregory went on to criticize YouTube, explaining: "This is the latest example of big tech suppression of free speech, a step on the road to communist-style censorship."

A YouTube spokesperson acknowledged via an email, according to Just The News that “the company had demonetized the publication's channel and affiliated channels and had suspended them from the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) – over issues related to harmful or sensitive content.”

YouTube has also suspended former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani “from a program that allows partners to make money from ads on their videos,” NBC News reported. YouTube’s policies, the article noted, restrict content suggesting “widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of a historical U.S. Presidential election."

YouTube has restricted all manner of conservative content after Democrats hammered the platform’s leadership for allowing conservatives to question their narratives.

“YouTube has barred One America News Network from posting new videos for a week and stripped it of its ability to make money off existing content,” Axios reported in November. YouTube made the choice to censor OAN after weeks of criticism for hosting OAN’s content. Bloomberg News condemned YouTube on Nov. 10 for allowing Weekly Briefing host Christina Bobb to express concern about alleged presidential election problems.

Democrat Senator Bob Menendez (NJ) was also critical of YouTube for allowing dissenting opinions on the platform. He led a group of his liberal Senate colleagues on November 24 urging YouTube to remove “misinformation.” In an open letter to the platform, he and fellow Democrats demanded swift action to crush conservative dissent:

“YouTube and its industry peers must take responsibility and immediately stop the spread of misinformation and manipulated media on their platforms.”

Conservatives are under attack. Contact YouTube at 650-253-0000 and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.