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Trump YouTube channel to remain subject to ‘three-strikes’ system. All you need to know
YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki stressed that the three-strikes system applies to everyone and no one has the privilege of exception.
YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki said former US president Donald Trump’s channel on the online video-sharing platform will be restored only when the risk of violence decreases. Trump was banned from multiple online platforms, including YouTube, in the aftermath of the Capitol riots on January 6 as he continued amplifying the claims of widespread electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Speaking to Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, Wojcicki said that several videos uploaded on YouTube by Donald Trump’s channel were in violation of the company’s incitement-to-violence policy. “As a result, we removed those videos very quickly. And when we see a violation of our policy, we suspend the channel for seven days. So that is standard procedure about how our strike system works. And again, it works that way for everyone,” she told Frederick Kempe, president and CEO of Atlantic Council.
The top executive of Alphabet Inc’s unit further stated that YouTube will restore Trump’s channel after the company sees reduced law enforcement in all state capitols in the US. Notably, security around the US Capitol has been tightened after intelligence found a possible plot of an attack on the complex by a militia group. Citing the company’s policy, Wojcicki said that Trump’s YouTube channel will remain subject to a “three-strikes” system.
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What is the ‘three-strikes’ system?
If the content of someone’s channel violates the Community Guidelines, YouTube removes the content and issues a strike to the channel. The channel’s owner gets a notification on their mobile phone, computer and channel settings, along with the reason for the removal and what could be done next. After getting the first strike, the user cannot upload videos, live streams, or stories on the channel for at least a week. In case the user gets a second strike within the same 90-day period as the first strike, the individual cannot upload content for another two weeks.
“If there are no further issues, full privileges will be restored automatically after the 2-week period, but each strike will not expire until 90 days from the time it was issued,” reads the Community Guidelines on strike system.
A third strike in the same 90-day period will lead to the permanent removal of that channel from YouTube. According to the company, each strike doesn’t expire until 90 days from the time it was issued and mere deletion of the content doesn’t mean the removal of a strike. Wojcicki stressed that the three-strikes system applies to everyone and no one has the privilege of exception.
“We have had that system since the very beginning of YouTube. And those three strikes, they apply to everybody. So there are no exceptions. Politicians aren’t excepted. Famous people aren’t excepted. CEOs aren’t excepted. Everybody follows the same rules,” she said.
