OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 4:00 PM PT – Saturday, December 12, 2020
YouTube, the online video-sharing platform, will begin removing content from its site related to voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
On Wednesday, the tech giant made the announcement.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) took to Twitter the same day to respond. He criticized the policy by saying, “Repeal Section 230 and break these companies up.”
.@Google owned @YouTube officially announcing free speech no longer allowed. If you have concerns about election integrity, you must sit down and shut up. Repeal Section 230 and break these companies up https://t.co/EfBfCZHzv2
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) December 9, 2020
Section 230 protects YouTube and other social media companies from liability for user-generated content. This allows them to monitor, label and even censor the content posted on their site, including posts from President Trump, without any repercussions.
YouTube said it’s trying to find a middle ground between allowing free political speech and making sure the platform isn’t used to cause harm. However, Republicans are beginning to feel otherwise.
Since September, the video service said it has taken down 8,000 channels and thousands of videos related to the election.
Rival media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, have already been monitoring election content by creating warning labels and limiting user interaction.
On Saturday, Twitter limited users from interacting with a series of President Trump’s tweets, which caused backlash from Trump supporters on the platform.
Meanwhile, the President and his legal team continue to fight against voter fraud and pursue legal action in numerous states.