“I’M BACK!” Trump posts on Facebook, YouTube for first time in two years : NPR

[ad_1]

Former President Donald Trump greets guests following an event March 13, 2023 in Davenport, Iowa. Trump’s visit was followed by potential challengers for the GOP presidential nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Scott Olson/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump greets guests following an event March 13, 2023 in Davenport, Iowa. Trump’s visit was followed by potential challengers for the GOP presidential nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump may once again upload new videos to YouTube, the company said Friday.

And within hours of the announcement, he posted his first video titled, “I’M BACK!”

The 11-second video shows Trump speaking at a rally saying, “Sorry to keep you waiting. Complicated business. Complicated.”

Trump also posted an “I’M BACK!” and the Facebook video, which lifted its ban on his content in January.

Leslie Miller, YouTube’s vice president of Public Policy, said the decision to reinstate the former president was made after the company considered the possibility that he would incite actual violence.

“We carefully assessed the ongoing risk of real-world violence, balancing that with the importance of maintaining the opportunity for voters to hear equally from the major national candidates in the run-up to an election,” he said in a statement. on NPR.

Trump is running for president again in 2024, and used social media platforms heavily in his successful bid for the White House in 2016, as well as during his four years in office.

In the aftermath of the January 6 violent attack on the Capitol, YouTube suspended Trump’s channel on its platform. It said he violated its rules against inciting violence.

The ban came after he posted a video in which he said the speech he made at a rally with his supporters before the attack was “totally appropriate.” At the time, YouTube did not clarify whether the ban would be permanent.

Facebook and Twitter also suspended Trump after the Capitol siege. Under new CEO Elon Musk, Twitter reinstated his account in November, but Trump has yet to post there.

“The world has reason to be alarmed at how powerful social media companies are, especially when politicians like President Trump are able to use their products to incite a coup attempt,” said Joan Donovan, an expert on online extremism at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

YouTube said that if Trump violates its policies again, the company could reimpose the ban.

The consequences of risky behavior

The people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to prevent Congress from certifying that President Joe Biden legally won the 2020 presidential election, said they were disgusted by Trump’s social media posts. Five people died as a result of the violence that day.

“The Trump ban is a shot across the bow telling all users, especially high-profile users, that risky behavior can result in catastrophic consequences,” said Karen North. , a clinical professor specializing in social media at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School. for Communication and Journalism.

But, with Trump running for president again, limiting his access to the platforms “could draw tremendous criticism,” he added.

Compared to his 87 million followers on Twitter and 34 million on Facebook, Trump has only 2.6 million followers on YouTube.

In response to bans from social networks two years ago, Trump started his own platform called Truth Social, where he has almost 5 million followers. There, he continues to make the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen and touts far-right QAnon conspiracy theories.

Advocacy group Accountable Tech found that hundreds of Trump’s posts on Truth Social would violate the community standards of most social media companies. The group said Trump released a video on the site on Friday falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen and that the Jan. 6 insurrectionists should be released from prison.

“Since using social media to incite a violent uprising against the United States government, Trump’s online behavior has become more dangerous,” said Nicole Gill, executive director of Accountable Tech, in a statement.

“YouTube puts profits and politics over the safety of their users, the integrity of their platform, and the well-being of our democracy,” he said of allowing him to return.

Trump’s “I’M BACK!” The video got more than 37,000 views in the first two hours of being live on Friday. It also has nearly 8,000 comments, filled with people welcoming his return.

Meanwhile, his Facebook post received more than 66,000 reactions, 17,000 comments and 14,000 shares.

[ad_2]