YouTube has removed a new video uploaded to President Trump’s account for violating the company’s content policies on inciting violence. The account has also been issued a “strike” and is unable to upload new content for at least a week. It’s presently unclear exactly which video prompted the action on Trump’s account, or what the offending material was. YouTube declined to provide specific details on the video’s content.
“After careful review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to the Donald J. Trump channel and issued a strike for violating our policies for inciting violence.” YouTube says in a statement to The Verge. “As a result, in accordance with our long-standing strikes system, the channel is now prevented from uploading new videos or livestreams for a minimum of seven days — which may be extended.”
YouTube also removed content from the White House’s official channel. Two videos that were on the White House’s official YouTube page earlier today — one where Trump was speaking to reporters, and another where he was making remarks at the border wall — have since been removed.
YouTube is also indefinitely disabling comments on Trump’s videos due to “ongoing concerns about violence,” which it says it’s done in the past to other channels with “safety concerns found in the comments section.” A second strike on the account would incur another mandatory two-week suspension, while a third strike would result in a permanent ban.
Previously, YouTube removed one of Trump’s videos that addressed a mob attack on the Capitol and also contained widespread misinformation about the election results. YouTube instituted a new policy in December prohibiting content of any kind designed to spread misinformation about the outcome of the 2020 election by promoting false theories about fraudulent votes or other unverified claims.
YouTube isn’t the only company taking a harsher stance against President Trump after yesterday’s attack and in the lead up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Twitter banned the president outright last week. Facebook initially prevented Trump from posting to Facebook and Instagram for 24 hours, before CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced even stricter measures on Thursday morning that include indefinitely suspending his account for at least the next weeks.
