Former President Donald Trump is allowed back on YouTube.
In a statement Friday, the Google-owned video platform said that Trump’s decision to run for president again impacted its decision to allow him and his campaign back on.
“Starting today, the Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and can upload new content,” the statement said. “We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election.”
The statement added that “this channel will continue to be subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube.” In other words, if he posts new content that violates YouTube’s policies, it may be suspended again.
YouTube initially restricted Trump’s channel on a temporary basis in January 2021, shortly after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, and subsequently extended it. ““After review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to Donald J. Trump’s channel for violating our policies,” it said at the time.
YouTube in many respects was following its fellow platforms in 2021, with both Twitter and Facebook suspending Trump in the wake of Jan. 6. And this year it is once again following those other social networks. Twitter, under owner Elon Musk, reinstated Trump’s account last year, while Facebook allowed Trump back in January.
However, Trump has not actually used any of these platforms. He has a social platform of his own, Truth Social, and has still limited his posts to that app.
