image source, Getty Images
YouTube has reinstated Donald Trump’s account after a two-year suspension from the video-sharing platform.
The move follows similar decisions by Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, and Elon Musk’s Twitter.
But his account is now back online, according to YouTube’s press account.
“As of today, Donald J. Trump’s channel is no longer restricted and can upload new content,” Google-owned YouTube wrote on Twitter.
“We carefully evaluated the continued risk of violence in the real world as we weighed the opportunity for voters to hear equally from major national candidates ahead of elections.
“This channel remains subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube.”
Technical prohibitions
YouTube previously banned Mr. Trump from posting videos on his platform days after his supporters stormed the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021.
Hundreds of rioters entered the complex as the US Congress attempted to ratify Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.
Trump’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts were also suspended following the riots.
A few months later, he launched his own social media platform, Truth Social.
But in 2022, Trump announced that he would run for the US presidency in 2024, and his accounts have since bounced back on all of these platforms.
He has over 2.6 million subscribers on YouTube along with his 87 million followers on Twitter, 34 million on Facebook, and 23 million on Instagram.
But despite his support, there’s no guarantee Trump will post videos on YouTube again.
However, on Friday, he posted to Facebook for the first time in more than two years, featuring a short video clip of his 2016 victory speech and a message where he simply said, “I’M BACK!”