YouTube now allows claims of stolen 2020 election.

YouTube has announced that it will no longer delete posts questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election, including claims of widespread voter fraud. The platform had previously established an “elections misinformation” policy in December 2020, which resulted in the removal of tens of thousands of videos. However, YouTube has now cited a “changed landscape” in which the 2024 election campaign is in full swing and removing election-related content could stifle political speech.

“In the current environment, we find that while removing this content does curb some misinformation, it could also have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm.”

YouTube pledged that it will stop removing content that advances claims that “widespread fraud, errors, or glitches occurred in the 2020 and other past US Presidential elections.” However, the platform will continue to remove content that misleads voters about the time, place, means, or eligibility requirements for voting, as well as false claims that could materially discourage voting.

YouTube’s Content Moderation Machine

Removing content under the elections misinformation policy was just one way in which YouTube has sought to shape political discussions. The platform will continue to ensure that content from authoritative sources is prominently displayed in search and recommendations when people come to YouTube looking for news and information about elections.

• YouTube will continue to crack down on “false claims that could materially discourage voting, including those disputing the validity of voting by mail.”
• The platform will also remove content that calls on people to “interfere with democratic processes.”

YouTube and other social media platforms have faced criticism for restricting free speech and have been accused of political bias by conservatives.

‘Outright Censorship’

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy recently accused social media platform LinkedIn of election interference after it temporarily locked his account for comments he made about the Biden administration and climate change. Ramaswamy has been a vocal critic of what he claims is collusion between Big Tech and the federal government.

Self-described free speech “absolutist” Elon Musk, who took over Twitter last year with a pledge to remove political bias from the platform and make it more balanced, recently addressed the issue of content claiming 2020 election fraud.

Trump Adamant About ‘Rigged’ 2020 Election

Meanwhile, in a recent town hall appearance on CNN, former President Donald Trump reiterated his view that the 2020 election was stolen. Trump pointed to the Twitter Files disclosures as an indication of apparent collusion between the FBI and Twitter to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story in the run-up to the election, which Trump said, “made a big difference.”

The New York Post’s story titled “Smoking-gun Email Reveals How Hunter Biden Introduced Ukrainian Businessman to VP Dad” was published on Oct. 14, 2020. Twitter first prevented sharing of the story for 24 hours before reversing the decision. However, the story did not circulate on the platform for weeks because of a policy requiring the original poster to delete and repost the content.