Trump can return only if risk falls: Youtube

SAN FRANCISCO: Former US president Donald Trump will be allowed back on Youtube but only when the threat of his inciting violence abates, the head of the popular online video sharing platform said on Thursday.

Youtube in late January suspended Trump’s channel, joining other social media, including Twitter and Facbook, in banning his accounts following the deadly January 6 Capitol riot.

“We will lift the suspension of the Donald Trump channel when we determine that the risk of violence has decreased,” Youtube chief Susan Wojcicki said during a streamed Atlantic Council interview.

“Given just the warnings by the Capitol Police yesterday about a potential attack today, I think it is pretty clear that that elevated violence risk still remains.”

Wojcicki said that when the Trump channel is reinstated, it will remain subject to the same “three strike” system as everyone else at Youtube.

Uploading videos that break Youtube rules such as those against inciting violence or falsely attacking election integrity would earn the channel more strikes and suspensions.

Channels that get three strikes within a 90-day period are removed from Youtube, Wojcicki noted.

“This was the first strike,” she said of the Trump channel.

Factors considered when assessing when it is safe to allow Trump back on Youtube will include online rhetoric along with concerns expressed by police departments and government agencies regarding risks of politically fuelled violence, according to Wojcicki.