YouTube Extends Donald Trump Suspension

Former US President Donald Trump will not be returning to Google’s YouTube video sharing service any time soon it has been reported.

On 12 January YouTube suspended Donald Trump from uploading videos for seven days, and warned it may extend the period. It has been reviewing his ban on a weekly basis since then.

Donald Trump was also banned from all major social networking platforms, with both Twitter and Facebook, as well as Snapchat and others implementing a permanent ban. Facebook has referred its decision to ban Trump to its independent oversight board.

Platform ban

The mass banning on social media platforms happened after Donald Trump was widely condemned for his role in inciting a mob of his supporters to storm the US Capitol building on Wednesday 6 January, which resulted in the deaths of five people (including one police officer who was beaten to death) during the armed insurrection.

Now the Guardian newspaper has reported that Donald Trump is suspended from posting to YouTube indefinitely, after Google extended the ban put in place early this month.

“In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, the Donald J Trump channel will remain suspended,” a YouTube spokesperson reportedly said. “Our teams are staying vigilant and closely monitoring for any new developments.”

This means that while the Donald Trump YouTube account will remain online, the former president will not be able to upload any new videos to it.

Comments under existing videos will also remain disabled, a YouTube spokesperson told the Guardian.

The company did not give any indication as to when the suspension would be lifted.

Free speech?

The banning of Donald Trump from social media platforms has not been welcomed by everyone however, with some concerned at the right to ‘free speech’ implications.

Among those that criticised the move was German leader Angela Merkel and Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador, both of whom are no fans of the former US president.

However supporters of Trump’s ban argue that free speech does not allow people to call for the overthrow of democratic governance, as happened on 6 January.

Nor does free speech allow for the incitement to violence, they argue.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently opened up about the decision of Twitter to permanently ban Trump from its platform.

He admitted that it was a ‘dangerous’ precedent, but said the microblogging platform was placed in an untenable situation, due to the false and misleading content from Trump.

He also cited Trump’s incitement of terrorists to overthrow the democratic process of the US government on Wednesday 6 January.