YouTube is restoring Donald Trump’s channel

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(CNN) — YouTube said Friday it will bring back former President Donald Trump’s channel, more than two years after it was suspended following the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.

The move follows similar actions by Twitter and Facebook-parent Meta in recent months. On Friday, Trump posted on Facebook for the first time in more than two years. He wrote, “I AM BACK!” and included a short CNN clip of him from the night he was elected president in which he said: “Sorry for keeping you waiting. Complicated business. Messy.”

The reinstatement of his YouTube and social media accounts comes after Trump announced last fall that he would run for president again in 2024.

“We carefully evaluated the ongoing risk of real-world violence, while balancing the opportunity for voters to hear equally from the major national candidates facing an election,” YouTube said in a tweet on Friday.

A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN. The channel’s restoration was first reported by Axios.

YouTube initially suspended Trump’s channel after the Capitol riot, saying a video on the channel violated its policy against inciting violence. Since then, Trump’s account has been blocked from uploading new videos or livestreams.

YouTube also disabled comments under videos on Trump’s channel, which appeared to have been reinstated on Friday. Immediately after his account was reinstated, many users began posting “welcome back” comments under old videos.

While YouTube has never been Trump’s top social platform, reactivating his channel will restore his access to the massive video streaming platform, where his account has more than 2.6 million subscribers.

As more platforms reinstate Trump’s account, some also stress that he continues to face restrictions on what he can post, with the potential to be suspended again.

YouTube said in its statement that Trump’s “channel will continue to be subject to our rules, just like any other YouTube channel.” YouTube operates a strike policy where users may receive incremental suspensions based on the number and severity of their violations.

Meanwhile, Meta said last month it had implemented new guardrails on Trump’s account that could result in suspension again if he violates company rules.

For now, the former president has only continued to post on his own platform, Truth Social, which was launched after he was suspended from more mainstream options. Trump on Friday morning posted a series of six videos on Truth Social, including multiple repeated false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

The-CNN-Wire& 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

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