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Former US President Donald Trump’s YouTube account is seen on a mobile phone and laptop after it was restored by Google and parent company Alphabet Inc. , as Google lifts a suspension of more than two years imposed on Trump after the deadly January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riots, in Washington, March 17, 2023.
Jim Borg | Reuters
Google-owned Youtube The video platform announced Friday that it will stop removing false allegations of widespread election fraud in the 2020 presidential race.
YouTube said in a blog post She made a decision to balance her twin goals of “protecting our community and providing a home for open discussion and debate.” The decision, which comes before the 2024 midterm races, repeals the policy that was implemented in December 2020, after President Joe Biden won the election.
“Two years later, tens of thousands of video takedowns, and one election cycle later, we knew it was time to reassess the implications of this policy in today’s changing landscape,” YouTube wrote. “In the current environment, we have found that while removing such content serves to reduce some misinformation, it may also have the unintended effect of diminishing political discourse without measurably reducing the risk of violence or other factual harm.”
The new rule will go into effect on Friday, June 2.
In the 2020 election, the company faced backlash for its delay in taking action when it came to categorizing and removing videos that showed misinformation or falsely claimed widespread voter fraud. After the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, YouTube said it would begin suspending channels that make false claims of widespread voter fraud.
As of March 2023, YouTube has already lifted the restrictions on Trump’s account after the January 6 insurrection.
YouTube said there were still aspects of its electoral misinformation policy remaining, including highlighting credible sources in search and recommendations and blocking posts intended to mislead voters about where and how to vote.
WATCH: The midterm elections are under scrutiny after false claims about the 2020 elections
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