Video streaming platform says the decision aims to allow voters to hear equally from candidates in the run-up to the 2024 vote.YouTube has lifted restrictions on Donald Trump’s channel, becoming the latest social media network to fully restore the former United States president’s account more than two years after his supporters violently stormed the US Capitol.
The decision on Friday comes as the race for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election starts to heat up with Trump, who has officially announced his candidacy, regularly taking shots at potential rivals.
“We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election,” YouTube, which is owned by Google, said in a tweet on Friday.
After a right-wing mob attacked the US Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021, to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory, several social media networks restricted or banned Trump’s accounts.
The president’s critics accuse him of inciting the violence, including via social media posts where he made false accusations of election fraud.
In recent months, social media firms – including Twitter and Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram – have restored the former president’s accounts. But Trump has not returned to these websites. Instead, he has been communicating with supporters through his own platform, Truth Social.
[embedded content]
As president, Trump’s social media posts – especially on Twitter – constantly stirred controversy, and at times caused international diplomatic crises.
Twitter “permanently suspended” Trump’s account after the January …
