YouTube will start suspending channels for videos that claim election fraud

YouTube will now suspend accounts that violate their policies.

What you need to know

• YouTube has announced more stringent actions against accounts that violate its policies.
• Accounts that receive a strike will be temporarily banned.
• The move comes just a day after the U.S. Capitol was stormed by pro-Trump rioters.

YouTube is putting its foot down when it comes to accounts that are spreading false claims about the election. The company was one of several social media sites to remove Trump’s video addressing the rioters at the U.S. Capitol. Now YouTube is announcing stricter repercussions to channels that violate its policies and promote misinformation about the election in their videos.

1. Due to the disturbing events that transpired yesterday, and given that the election results have now been certified, starting today *any* channels posting new videos with false claims in violation of our policies will now receive a strike. https://t.co/aq3AVugzL7

— YouTubeInsider (@YouTubeInsider) January 7, 2021

Channels that receive a strike will be temporarily suspended. Repeat violations within a 90-day period will result in a permanent ban from YouTube, regardless of the channel. YouTube highlights that it has already taken down thousands of videos from various channels, including some uploaded by Donald Trump, for spreading false claims and misinformation about the U.S. election.

YouTube is not the only site to change its policies in the aftermath of the U.S. Capitol riots. Facebook also announced that it was changing its policies around content moderation, using AI to demote certain content and “automatically disabling comments on posts in Groups that start to have a high rate of hate speech or content that incites violence”. And while Twitter placed a temporary lock on Trump’s account, Facebook took it a step further and suspended his account “indefinitely”.

Admittedly, many users would not take lightly this decision to impose stricter moderation policies, and the move could force users off youtube and onto other streaming services for content.

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