YouTube announced on Tuesday that it has suspended the One America News Network (OANN) channel for repeatedly violating the video-sharing platform’s Covid-19 misinformation policy. After careful review, OANN is suspended from the YouTube Partner Program for uploading a fake cure for Coronavirus. As a result, the channel has also been demonetized. Although OANN is still live, it is prohibited to upload new content or live streams for a week. Re-application to YouTube’s Partner Program the channel sort out the issues that resulted to the suspension.
CNBC: It was unclear what specifically OANN’s video said about a Covid-19 cure that made YouTube decide to suspend the channel
CNBC disclosed that according to a YouTube spokesperson, they “removed a video from OANN and issued a strike on the channel for violating our COVID-19 misinformation policy, which prohibits content claiming there’s a guaranteed cure. Additionally, due to repeated violations of our Covid-19 misinformation policy and other channel monetization policies, we’ve suspended the channel from the YouTube Partner Program and as a result, its monetization on YouTube.”
Tuesday’s move marks YouTube’s largest crackdown against OANN. The social media giant has been criticized for allowing OANN to spread misinformation, such as false claims that President Donald Trump won the presidential election.
CBS News: OANN’s channel is still live, but the strike means it cannot upload new videos or start new live streams for a week
CBS News, on the other hand, shares a statement from YouTube saying that “since early in this pandemic, we’ve worked to prevent the spread of harmful misinformation associated with COVID-19 on YouTube. After careful review, we removed a video from OANN and issued a strike on the channel for violating our COVID-19 misinformation policy, which prohibits content claiming there’s a guaranteed cure.”
YouTube has a three-strikes policy before it removes an account. OANN’s channel is still live, but the strike means it cannot upload new videos or start new live streams for a week.
OANN has recently become a favorite of President Donald Trump. The president has repeatedly promoted segments from the network promoting unfounded conspiracy theories about massive voter fraud and vote machine rigging in the presidential election.
