YOUTUBE BLOCKS DONALD TRUMP INDEFINITELY, HIS LAWYER GIULIANI FACES CURBS TOO
SAN FRANCISCO: Youtube has suspended former US president Donald Trump indefinitely from its platform and said it will also prevent his lawyer Rudy Giuliani from being able to monetise his clips, US media reported.
It comes a week after the social media giant confirmed it would extend a ban on Trump’s channel - which has just under three million subscribers - joining other social media platforms in banning his accounts following the deadly January 6 Capitol riot.
The Google-owned firm has faced some criticism over its slow response following the violence in Washington, as well as the proliferation of conspiracy theories on the platform.
“In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, the Donald J Trump channel will remain suspended,” a Youtube spokesperson told Politico.
The company said separately that Giuliani’s account would be barred from the Partner Program - which allows creators to make money off their videos after repeatedly violating its policy against posting misleading information about the US election.
The 76-year-old has posted videos titled “The Biden Crime Family’s Payoff Scheme” and “Election Theft of the Century” to his Youtube channel, which has around 600,000 subscribers. According to Youtube, Giuliani will be able to appeal the decision in 30 days - providing the underlying issues have been fixed.
Meanwhile, the revenue of Bytedance, the parent company of video sharing platform Tiktok that Trump sought to ban, more than doubled to about $35 billion last year.