In another blow to President Trump’s online presence, YouTube is extending the commander in chief’s suspension for an additional week.
The online video-sharing platform’s decision was made in an effort to prevent the president from inciting violence in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, a company spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
“In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, the Donald J. Trump channel will be prevented from uploading new videos or livestreams for an additional minimum of seven days,” said YouTube Manager of Policy Communications Ivy Choi. “As we shared previously, comments will continue to be indefinitely disabled under videos from the channel.”
The Google-owned corporation initially suspended Trump on Wednesday for “violating [company] policies.”
“After careful review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to the Donald J. Trump channel and issued a strike for violating our policies for inciting violence,” a YouTube spokesperson said at the time. “As a result, in accordance with our long-standing strikes system, the channel is now prevented from uploading new videos or livestreams for a minimum of seven days — which may be extended.”
Tech giants Twitter, Facebook, and Google deplatformed the president, and opponents of the crackdowns took action. Since the suspensions were implemented, Florida’s state government has moved to divest from the tech giants, an Idaho internet provider announced plans to block users’ access to Twitter and Facebook, and Twitter’s stock values fell by as much as 12%.
