Former President Donald Trump will one day regain access to his YouTube channel—but only if the potential for more political violence has died down, YouTube said on Thursday.
“We will lift the suspension of the Donald Trump channel when we determine the risk of violence has decreased,” YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said during a talk with the Atlantic Council, a US think tank. “That’s per our policies. That’s how our three-strikes system works,” she added.
YouTube was among the social media platforms that suspended or banned Trump’s access after his supporters stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6. Since then, the suspensions have remained in place over concerns Trump could continue to cast doubt on the election results, and thus spark more violence.
YouTube initially suspended Trump's account for seven days; it later extended that ban "for an additional minimum of seven days." During her talk with the Atlantic Council, Wojcicki said YouTube served Trump’s YouTube channel with one strike for uploading content that broke the platform’s rules.
To determine when the risk of violence has decreased, Wojcicki said YouTube will look at government statements and warnings on the matter, and the presence of law enforcement around the country.
“We would also look at any kind of violent rhetoric that we’re seeing on our platform,” she said. “We have an intelligence desk where we look and try to understand everything and get ahead of what’s happening on our platform. So those are all different signals we would look at.”
Wojcicki couldn’t say when it might lift the suspension, but she added: “It’s pretty clear to me, right where we stand, there still is that elevated risk of violence.”
An audience member at the talk wondered why Trump’s channel was only given one strike when the former President had been casting doubt on the election results for months prior to the Jan. 6 riot. The Trump channel itself had uploaded a number of videos alleging voter fraud, which YouTube later determined violated its policies.
Wojcicki explained the platform’s ban against videos claiming the 2020 election was fraudulent went into place on Dec. 9, and included a one-month “grace period” on handing out strikes. Hence, Trump’s YouTube channel received no penalties for posting the videos.
Wojcicki's comments set the stage for Trump's eventual return to the platform, and highlight how the former president can game YouTube's three-strike system to post rule-breaking videos while still avoiding a complete ban.
“When the (Trump) channel is reinstated, it will be subject to the same policies that every other channel follows,” she said. “So if we see any content that’s uploaded that in any way violates any of our policies, incitement to violence, or any kind of election integrity policy violations, then a second strike would be issued.
“When there are three strikes within a 90-day period, then the channel is removed,” she added.
Another social media platform considering lifting the ban on Trump is Facebook. The company’s newly established Oversight Board plans to decide the matter in the coming weeks. Twitter has confirmed that its Trump ban is permanent.