Giuliani’s podcast video removed by Youtube
President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani still had a Twitter account as of Saturday but one of his recent podcasts was removed by Youtube.
A message on a video, which Giuliani also tweeted Friday, says it “has been removed for violating Youtube’s Community Guidelines.” Google-owned Youtube also confirmed to USA TODAY Saturday that Giuliani’s video violated the company’s guidelines.
Giuliani didn’t immediately respond to USA TODAY’S request for comment. His Twitter account tweeted about the video again Saturday night, which is now posted on his website, and wrote “YOUTUBE CENSORED AND REMOVED THIS VIDEO.”
Youtube had said it is cracking down on new videos featuring misinformation as they and other tech companies including Facebook and Twitter face backlash after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. In the video podcast, Giuliani described the events that day, suggesting they were orchestrated to make President Trump look bad.
The assault on the Capitol followed a Trump rally; Guiliani was one of the speakers. But after the rally, a mob headed to the Capitol, damaging the building during an afternoon that saw five people killed and many more wounded. Dozens of arrests have been announced as police identify people who too park in the chaos.
The Youtube account for former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast was taken down.
In a statement, Youtube said it had “terminated Steve Bannon’s channel ‘War room’ and one associated channel for repeatedly violating our Community Guidelines.”
The podcast videos are posted on Bannon’s website with this note: “While Youtube announces broad censorship mandates for any channel discussing the election, Steve Bannon discusses the latest on the coronavirus
pandemic and the latest updates on the state of the election.”
Youtube and social media companies including Facebook and Twitter have been lambasted by critics who say their platforms contribute to the spread of misinformation culminating with rioters storming the Capitol as proceedings to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election began.
Facebook and Twitter stepped up enforcement on President Trump’s accounts to curb the spread of false information. On Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said posting to Trump’s accounts on the social network and Instagram would be blocked indefinitely.
On Friday, Twitter permanently banned Trump, saying it was a case ban evasion by the @Teamtrump account.
Also on Friday, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh’s Twitter account was deactivated. Twitter confirmed to USA TODAY that the account wasn’t suspended but “deactivated by the owner.”
When USA TODAY asked Twitter about the status of Giuliani’s Twitter account as well as a Trump War Room account that was not suspended Friday, the company said the accounts “are currently not in violation of our policies.”