Google-owned YouTube said on Tuesday, January 12, that it has suspended President Donald Trump's channel for violating its policy against inciting violence after the Capitol riot by his supporters.
The online platforms and social media companies decided to take action against those who encouraged or engaged in the violence in Washington DC on January 6, which not only shocked millions of Americans but also the entire world.
YouTube said in a statement: "In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to Donald J. Trump's channel for violating our policies."
The channel is now prevented from uploading new videos or live streams for at least seven days, which may be extended, said YouTube.
Social Media Taking Action
Last week, Facebook suspended Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, following the violent attack on the US Capitol to disrupt the certification for President-elect Joe Biden's election victory. Thousands of pro-Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol building, forcing lawmakers to be rushed to safety or hide under furniture. The incident caused the death of five people.
On January 8, three days after Trump called on his supporters to march towards the Capitol building, Twitter also suspended President's account.
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," said Twitter.
Twitter then deleted new tweets posted by Trump on the official government account @POTUS and suspended the account of his campaign. Trump then tweeted "We will not be SILENCED!" from the @POTUS account, which has over 33 million followers. He also was hit with suspensions by services like Twitch and Snapchat and even TikTok.
Later, Google, Apple and Amazon suspended Parler, a social media platform favored by many Trump supporters. But Trump was unfazed. "[I/We] will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration. As the expression goes, be careful what you wish for," said Trump as he spoke in front of a section of the Mexico border wall in Texas, this week.
