YouTube said it suspended Rudy Giuliani for a second time for continuing to tout unverified claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Giuliani will be barred from uploading videos for two weeks for violating YouTube’s election integrity policy as well as promoting nicotine, the company told the Washington Examiner.
“We removed content from the Rudy W. Giuliani channel for violating our sale of regulated goods policy, which prohibits content facilitating the use of nicotine, and our presidential election integrity policy,” a YouTube spokeswoman said in a statement. “Additionally, in accordance with our long standing strikes system, we issued a strike against the Rudy W. Giuliani channel, which temporarily restricts uploading or live-streaming.”
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The former New York City mayor served as former President Donald Trump’s lawyer through unsuccessful litigation battles across several swing states as the campaign attempted to overturn the results of the general election.
Giuliani’s suspension is the second admonishment he received from the video platform in two months. YouTube’s policies state a creator will have uploading privileges revoked for two weeks if policies are violated twice within 90 days.
His previous suspension in January was also tied to concerns about election misinformation and resulted in a temporary loss of revenue collection from ads placed on his videos.
YouTube’s decision is certain to fuel criticism from the Right that several Silicon Valley corporations are removing conservative voices from social media platforms.
Sparked in part by Trump’s bans across an array of social media outlets, Republicans have considered taking up measures designed to break up Big Tech corporations, particularly via the repeal of tech liability shield Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Some Republicans feel there is bipartisan support for such reforms, with Rep. Greg Steube predicting that Democrats would join in the effort.
“I do think there is an appetite amongst Republicans, if the Democrats wanted to try to break up Big Tech, I think there is support for that,” the Florida Republican said.
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If Giuliani is suspended again, his YouTube channel will become permanently deactivated.
