YouTube extended Donald Trump's ban for at least 7 more days amid fears of violence at Joe Biden's inauguration

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YouTube extended Donald Trump's ban for at least 7 more days amid fears of violence at Joe Biden's inauguration
Sundar Pichai Donald TrumpDenis Balibouse/Reuters/Win McNamee/Getty Images
  • YouTube extended its ban on outgoing President Donald Trump uploading videos amid fear of violence.
  • President-elect Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated in an unusual ceremony today.
  • The video-sharing giant has faced pressure to keep Trump off its platform following violence at the Capitol.
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YouTube has extended its ban preventing outgoing US President Donald Trump from uploading videos, ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration.

The Google-owned site suspended Trump's account for seven days after removing a video that the company said incited violence in the wake of the storming of the US Capitol, which left five people dead.

On Tuesday, the firm said it would extend the suspension "in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence" for at least another week as Washington braced for President-elect Biden's highly unusual inauguration, Reuters reported.

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"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," the firm said it first issued the ban last week. "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."

Are you a current or former Googler with more to share? You can contact this reporter securely using the encrypted messaging app Signal (+447801985586) or email (mcoulter@businessinsider.com). Reach out using a nonwork device.

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YouTube was among the last of the major social media platforms to ban the outgoing president, following swift action from both Twitter and Facebook. The ban was eventually made in line with its "three-strike" policy.

The ban followed pressure from campaigns inside and outside of the company. Google's newly formed union penned a searing open letter to executives, accusing the platform of fostering fascism by keeping Trump on its platform, and failing to act in the wake of the siege by pro-Trump rioters on the US Capitol.

Shortly after, "Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen called on YouTube to "do the right thing" and join other platforms in banning Trump from its service.

The actor has become a vocal critic of social media platforms over the last year, and tagged the CEOs of YouTube and Google, Susan Wojcicki and Sundar Pichai respectively, in a tweet last Monday.

Business Insider approached Google for further comment.

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Are you a current or former Googler with more to share? You can contact this reporter securely using the encrypted messaging app Signal (+447801985586) or email (mcoulter@businessinsider.com). Reach out using a nonwork device.

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