YouTube on Friday said it has restored former US President Donald Trump’s channel, following a two-year suspension over concerns he could incite more violence after the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot in 2021.
In a tweet on Friday, the Google-owned video site said Trump’s account is no longer restricted and is able to upload new content.
In 2021, YouTube banned Trump from posting videos to his channel and disabled comments on the channel. At the time, YouTube said it would consider lifting the suspension once the risk of violence decreased.
“We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election,” Leslie Miller, vice president of YouTube public policy, said in a Friday statement about lifting the ban.
YouTube’s decision comes after Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta, lifted restrictions on the former president’s accounts earlier this year. Elon Musk reversed Trump’s permanent ban from Twitter in November. The return of his accounts gives Trump, who announced last year that he’s running for president in 2024, other potential social media megaphones.
So far, Trump hasn’t returned with new posts to YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. In November, the former president reportedly said he plans to stay with the social network he helped start earlier this year, Truth Social.
YouTube said Trump’s channel will “continue to be subject to our policies, just like any other channel.”
The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
