(DailyVantage.com) – The YouTube channel belonging to former US President Donald Trump had its suspension revoked on March 17, more than two years after the Google-owned company prohibited Trump from posting videos.
YouTube public policy vice president Leslie Miller told Axios that Trump’s channel — which has more than 2.6 million subscribers — was “no longer restricted” and that he was now free to post videos following the lengthy suspension.
Miller claimed that the platform decided to revoke the suspension after concluding that Trump’s presence on YouTube no longer posed as much risk of “real-world violence.” She also stated that it was important for American voters to be able to hear from all major parties running for president in 2024.
However, the executive also appeared to issue a veiled warning to Trump, acknowledging that his channel would continue to be subject to YouTube’s policies and could be suspended again if deemed to break them.
Trump was suspended from YouTube just days after the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots. While Trump released a video during the incident calling on protesters to leave the Capitol and go back to their homes, YouTube claimed that his presence had an “ongoing potential for violence” and suspended his channel for a minimum of seven days. That suspension was ultimately extended to more than two years.
The last video that Trump published to YouTube before his suspension was a speech thanking law enforcement stationed at the southern US border, dated January 13.
While Trump is now free to publish videos on YouTube again, it is unclear whether he will return to the platform. Trump opted not to return to Twitter after his account’s suspension was lifted by CEO Elon Musk in November 2022. Like YouTube, his Twitter account had been suspended in the days following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots.
Trump currently uses his own platform Truth Social, which he founded in February 2022 as a competitor to mainstream social media websites.
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