International News

Joining Twitter & Facebook, YouTube Temporarily Suspends Donald Trump Channel

YouTube suspended President Trump from uploading new videos to his official account, joining fellow social media giants Twitter and Facebook

Sentinel Digital Desk

NEW DELHI: YouTube on Tuesday temporarily suspended President Donald Trump's channel.

According to reports, Google-owned YouTube also removed a video for violating its policy against inciting violence.

Notably, post a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington DC, Trump's access to the social media platforms he has used as a megaphone during his presidency has been largely cut off.

"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," YouTube said in a statement.

Trump's channel has been "temporarily prevented from uploading new content for a minimum of 7 days," the statement read.

YouTube also said it would be "indefinitely disabling comments" on Trump's channel because of safety concerns.

Meanwhile, Sidney Powell, the lawyer who spearheaded outgoing US President Donald Trump's failed attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election result, has been sued for $1.3 billion by the American corporation that makes voting machines.

In the defamation suit filed on Friday, the Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems chronicled some 40 of Powell's public statements that spread "wild" and "demonstrably false" allegations, reports Xinhua news agency. The "viral disinformation campaign" that Powell mounted "to financially enrich herself, raise her public profile, and ingratiate herself to Donald Trump", deeply damaged the reputation and resale value of Dominion, the suit said.

There are "mountains of direct evidence" disproving Powell's election fraud claims about the company's machines, that have resulted in "Dominion's founder, Dominion's employees, Georgia's governor, and Georgia's secretary of state" being harassed and receiving death threats," the 124-page lawsuit further said.

Earlier, social media giant Twitter announced that it is banning US President Donald Trump from its platform, citing "risk of further incitement of violence". The Twitter ban comes two days after a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol, hoping to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election victory.  

On Twitter, Donald Trump's handle is now an almost empty white canvas, frozen at 51 followed accounts, 88.7 million followers and two words on the centre of the screen saying "Account suspended".