YouTube Bans One America News Network From Posting New Videos for a Week Due to COVID-19 Rule Violation

OAN has also been suspended from monetising its videos due to repeated violations of the COVID-19 misinformation policy and other rules.

YouTube Bans One America News Network From Posting New Videos for a Week Due to COVID-19 Rule Violation

A YouTube spokeswoman said an OAN video, now removed, had violated its coronavirus misinformation rules

Highlights
  • YouTube and other major online platforms are under scrutiny from lawmaker
  • President Trump promoted OAN, calling it a great alternative to Fox News
  • YouTube said it has a "three-strikes policy" before an account is removed
Advertisement

YouTube said on Tuesday it had barred the right-wing outlet One America News Network from posting new videos for a week after it broke the site's rules against content that claims there is a guaranteed cure for COVID-19.

A spokeswoman for YouTube, the video-sharing platform owned by Alphabet's Google, said OAN had also been suspended from monetising its videos due to repeated violations of the COVID-19 misinformation policy and other rules. OAN will have to reapply to be allowed to monetise again.

President Donald Trump has promoted OAN, calling it a "great alternative" to Fox News in a tweet this month. The outlet has amplified Trump's unsupported claims of voter fraud in the US presidential election.

YouTube said it has a "three-strikes policy" before an account is removed and this constituted OAN's first strike. OAN did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The YouTube spokeswoman said an OAN video, now removed, had violated its coronavirus misinformation rules by claiming that hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug touted by Trump despite a lack of scientific evidence, was a cure for COVID-19.

YouTube and other major online platforms are under scrutiny from lawmakers and researchers to curb misinformation on their sites. Following the November election, Reuters identified several YouTube channels making money from ads and memberships that were amplifying debunked accusations about voting fraud.

At a congressional hearing last week with the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal criticised Google, YouTube's owner, saying it had been given a "pass" and was being rewarded for its "timidity" in content moderation.

Four Democratic senators also sent a letter on Tuesday to YouTube's Chief Executive Officer Susan Wojcicki urging the video platform to remove content that they said spread misinformation on election results and pressing for information on measures taken ahead of the runoff US Senate elections in Georgia.

© Thomson Reuters 2020


iPhone 12 Pro Series Is Amazing, but Why Is It So Expensive in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Bitcoin Climbs Towards All-Time High After Topping $19,000
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »