Trump YouTube channel suspended over concerns about ‘ongoing potential for violence’

President Trump’s YouTube channel was temporarily suspended in the wake of deadly rioting at the U.S. Capitol due to violations of the platform’s policies and concerns about the “ongoing potential for violence,” the company said.

The action from YouTube’s administrators left the president’s account unable to post new videos, though previously uploaded videos remained on the channel. A statement from YouTube released on Twitter indicated that Trump would be unable to post new content for a “minimum” of seven days.

“After review, and 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. It now has its 1st strike & is temporarily prevented from uploading new content for a *minimum* of 7 days,” reads YouTube’s statement.

“Given the ongoing concerns about violence, we will also be indefinitely disabling comments on President Trump’s channel, as we’ve done to other channels where there are safety concerns found in the comments section,” the company added.

2/ Given the ongoing concerns about violence, we will also be indefinitely disabling comments on President Trump’s channel, as we’ve done to other channels where there are safety concerns found in the comments section. https://t.co/1aBENHGU5z

— YouTubeInsider (@YouTubeInsider) January 13, 2021

The action by YouTube comes nearly a week after a violent mob of Trump’s supporters rioted at the Capitol after the president spoke to them, overwhelming law enforcement and forcing lawmakers to hide in secure areas for hours. Dozens of people have been arrested in connection to the incident, which has led to fears about further violence at President-elect Joe Biden’s upcoming inauguration. Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died.

House Democrats are trying to impeach him for a second time over his role in the riots.

YouTube administrators had pledged to dole out suspensions to “any” account found to be in violation of its content policies around false information, a policy that the president’s account routinely violates.

(1/4) Due to the disturbing events that transpired yesterday, and given that the election results have now been certified, starting today *any* channels posting new videos with false claims in violation of our policies will now receive a strike. https://t.co/3pL9e5qoi0

— YouTube Creators (@YouTubeCreators) January 7, 2021

Trump has continued to raise unproven claims of election fraud and widespread corruption in the U.S. voting system in recent days, and refused to admit that his election loss was fair.