YouTube Will Now Remove Any Videos Claiming Voter Fraud
YouTube announced Wednesday that it will delete any new content uploaded that repeats false claims that voter fraud or rigging impacted the 2020 election.
“Now that enough states certified their Presidential election results, we’ll remove any content published today (or anytime after) that alleges widespread fraud or errors changed the 2020 U.S. Presidential election outcome,” the Google-owned video platform’s Twitter account said.
This move is in keeping with its election goal to, it said, “connect people to authoritative info, limit harmful misinfo & remove violative content.”
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The account also pointed to its past policy of removing false and misleading information.
A representative for YouTube did not specify to TheWrap whether any videos or uploads had been removed on Wednesday.
In late November, four Senate Democrats called on YouTube to censor “false or misleading” videos related to the 2020 U.S. election. The lawmakers, in an open letter to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, said the video giant needed to “immediately stop the spread of misinformation” before the Georgia Senate runoff elections in January, which will determine whether the U.S. Senate leans red or blue.
“We urge you to immediately remove all election outcome misinformation and take aggressive steps to implement prohibitions, as other social media companies have done, regarding outcomes in future elections,” the letter said.
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A YouTube rep, when reached for comment at that time, said the site’s rules allow users to share their opinions on the election outcome and how votes have been counted.
Outgoing president Donald Trump has not yet accepted the results of the 2020 election, which President-elect Joe Biden won. Trump has continued to baselessly claim there was widespread voter fraud and urge his followers to turn to more Trump-friendly outlets like Newsmax and One America News Network.
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