YouTube has restored former President Donald Trump’s account after a two-year ban. Trump’s YouTube account was suspended in January 2021 following the January 6 Capitol Hill invasions. The management of the social media platform said on Friday it took the decision to reinstate the account because of its restricted potential for being used to incite violence, and in the light of the coming 2024 general elections.
“Starting today, The Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and the ability to upload new content is restored,” said Leslie Miller, YouTube’s vice president of public policy. “We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, balancing that with the importance of preserving the opportunity for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run-up to an election. This channel will continue to be subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube.”
On January 13, 2021, Twitter suspended Trump’s account because of its “potential for violence,” and YouTube blocked the ability of the president to upload new video content to his channel for one week. But on January 27, YouTube suspended the account permanently when Trump’s role in the January 6 invasion became general knowledge. Facebook and Instagram soon followed suit by blocking the sitting president’s accounts too.
With the restoration of Trump’s YouTube channel – which had 2.6 million followers – the former president will be able to campaign for the 2024 elections. He will be able to advertise on YouTube and do most things with his account – if he chooses to return – because he had gone ahead to establish his own social media platform – Truth Social – after his ban. Facebook and Instagram have earlier indicated they will reinstate the former president’s accounts.
But it is doubtful if Trump would return to YouTube or Facebook and Instagram if his accounts are restored. When Twitter restored his account after Elon Musk acquired the platform, Trump did not return to Twitter. He complained that the major social media networks did not allow free speech and that only his Social Truth platform could guarantee free speech to everyone in the United States.
