Google’s YouTube, like all of the other major social media platforms, indefinitely suspended the account of former President Donald Trump in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in 2021.
Now, more than two years later, YouTube has finally reinstated Trump’s channel and will allow new content to be uploaded without any special restrictions, the Daily Caller reported.
The news comes months after Trump’s previously suspended accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter were similarly restored.
Trump channel is “no longer restricted”
An official account for YouTube on Twitter posted Friday, “Starting today, the Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and can upload new content.”
“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 continued.
The YouTube account added, “This channel will continue to be subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube.”
2/ This channel will continue to be subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube.
— YouTubeInsider (@YouTubeInsider) March 17, 2023
Channel was suspended over “risk of incitement to violence”
Reuters reported in March 2021 that former President Trump’s YouTube channel had been suspended in January of that year for purportedly violating the platform’s policies against inciting violence.
At that time, then-CEO Susan Wojcicki said Trump’s “channel remains suspended due to the risk of incitement to violence,” in light of warnings from the Capitol Police that an “elevated violence risk still remains.”
“We will turn the account back on,” she explained, “But it will be when we see the reduced law enforcement in capitals in the U.S, if we don’t see different warnings coming out of government agencies, those would all be signals to us that it would be safe to turn the channel back on.”
“I’M BACK!”
According to NPR, just hours after he was reinstated on YouTube on Friday, former President Trump posted a short video clip titled “I’M BACK!” that featured footage of him at a rally telling his supporters, “Sorry to keep you waiting. Complicated business. Complicated.”
He then posted that same video to his Facebook account, his first post on that platform since his page was restored in January. Trump’s Twitter account was also restored in November, but it doesn’t appear that he has used it yet.
The Daily Caller noted that the limited or non-existent use of those restored accounts is likely due to Trump’s contractual obligation with the Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that owns his Truth Social platform.
Per the contract reviewed by the outlet, Trump is “generally obligated to make any social media post on TruthSocial” prior to posting the same content “on another social media site for 6 hours.”
