You try to change the facts; you eventually get punished, and that is what happened to Donald Trump's favorite TV network. No, it is not about Fox News, it is One America News Network (OANN). YouTube has temporary suspended the channel for promoting a fake COVID-19 cure on its channel.
A spokesperson for the video platform said OANN, which is a conservative news outlet and has been pushing post-election misinformation about voter fraud, as well as the election results, will not be able to post any new content on its YouTube channel for one week.
As reported, it is also no longer be able to monetize video content. The one-week ban is also considered a "strike" under the video platform's COVID-19 misinformation policy which was implemented by Google.
The policy was implemented in an attempt to stem a wave of false news across social media and video services during the first outbreak of novel Coronavirus. At that time, there were several false claims which continued to bombard online platforms such as fake COVID-19 treatments, conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus, and also stories claiming SARS-CoV-2 is a bioweapon.
OANN's Video
The misleading video from the news network claimed that there was a guaranteed cure for the Coronavirus caused disease. This content has now been taken down by YouTube.
As reported by Axios on Tuesday, November 24, OANN has also been suspended from the YouTube Partner Program that allows content creators to monetize their videos through adverts. To rejoin and monetize content, the channel will now have to apply for it again.
YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi said, "After careful review, we removed a video from OANN and issued a strike on the channel for violating our COVID-19 misinformation policy, which prohibits content claiming there's a guaranteed cure."
The suspension happened at the same time when US Senator Bob Menendez, along with Democrat colleagues, wrote and published a letter to YouTube, urging the online platform to take a stronger stance against election misinformation.
