As The Conservative Treehouse insightfully pointed out, it looks like tech companies listed to Brandon’s call to go after what he characterized as “misinformation and disinformation.”
That’s because YouTube, one of the largest video-sharing platforms on the web, just temporarily demonetized conservative commentator Dan Bongino for Covid-19 “misinformation.”
Specifically, YouTube slapped him for saying that masks are “useless” in stopping the spread of the Chinese flu because its Covid-19 information policy specifically prohibits any content that denies the effectiveness of masks.
According to the Hill, which reported on the censorious action, the suspension is for a week and the demonetization is for at least 30 days.
But, while the timeline for the suspension is relatively short, Bongino is still potentially in near-term trouble because of how YouTube’s strike policy works.
You see, this was his first strike. If, after his seven-day suspension is up and within a 90-day window afterward, he puts up another video that goes against the platform’s rules, he’ll receive a two-week suspension. If he gets a third strike during that time frame, his channel is gone for good.
Yet worse for him is the monetization situation. Right now, the ban is for at least 30 days. But that doesn’t mean that after 30 days or so are up he’ll be able to start showing display ads again. Rather, he has to reapply. As the Hill reports, after 30 days he can “reapply for the program in 30 days if the underlying issues that led to the removal are addressed.”
The problem with that is that the “underlying issues” seem to be that his content is unapologetically conservative and YouTube doesn’t like it.
Again according to the Hill, the ban stemmed from what YouTube claimed was his channel ‘“repeatedly violating’ guidelines on harmful and dangerous acts.” With this being his first strike, however, it sounds more like YouTube just doesn’t like his content.
Though his suspension is one of the most high-profile ones to occur as of late, Bongino isn’t the first conservative to be (temporarily) kicked off YouTube for being conservative and certainly won’t be the last.
Steven Crowder has perpetually struggled with the platform, for example, and was also booted from its Partner Program. In another case, a popular music video blaming Biden for the Afghanistan disaster was kicked off the program.
Others have voluntarily departed the platform, citing its censorious acts and suppression of free thinkers as the reason. Senator Rand Paul, for example, wrote an op-ed in which he said:
Sure, I can get millions of views. But why should I allow anonymous “fact-checkers” to censor my fully sourced, fact-based content? They don’t want to challenge or debate me with opposing views, they just want my silence.
[…]So today, I announce that I will begin an exodus from Big Tech. I will no longer post videos on YouTube unless it is to criticize them or announce that viewers can see my content on rumble.com.
Such acts might be necessary to teach the platform a lesson and encourage the continued creation of free thought; only by leaving censorship-heavy platforms can Americans preserve their cherished right of free speech.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.
