Earlier this week, YouTube gave an inch to the Online Right by announcing a plan to offer a chance at reinstatement to users who were previously banned from the platform for spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. Today, the Online Right took a mile by hammering YouTube for almost immediately terminating new accounts created by the previously banned Alex Jones and Nick Fuentes.
Jones, a conspiracy theorist who still owes the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting $1.3 billion after claiming it was a hoax, and Fuentes, a Christian nationalist and white supremacist who has denied the validity of the Holocaust, both reportedly created new accounts on YouTube after Republican Representative Jim Jordan released a letter from parent company Alphabet stating that the platform will “provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform” if they were removed for violating content policies that are no longer in effect. Both figures quickly had their new accounts terminated. That caused a fervor in the Online Right, who probably don’t even actually need Jones or Fuentes to appear on YouTube but do want to force the company to continue to engage in the humiliation ritual that it invited upon itself.
YouTube previously said that the reinstatement process would be part of a “limited pilot project” that has not been launched yet. It reiterated that on Thursday, stating, “We’ve seen some previously terminated creators try to start new channels. To clarify, our pilot program on terminations is not yet open.” It even tried to respond to the Jones and Fuentes cases directly, replying to a viral post about the terminations to say “We terminated these channels as it’s still against our rules for previously terminated users to start new channels – the pilot program for terminations (that many folks referenced this week) isn’t available yet and will be a limited pilot program to start.”
Unfortunately, that’s just not how the game is played with right-wing influencers. Vivek Ramaswamy grabbed hold of a tweet about the ban and called it un-American to “muzzle the peaceful expression of opinions.” Tim Pool posted about Alex Jones getting banned and snitch-tagged the House Judiciary Committee’s handle, suggesting he wants the government to force YouTube to allow Jones back onto the platform. Gizmodo reached out to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan’s office for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
YouTube confirmed to Gizmodo that the new accounts of Jones and Fuentes were terminated, explaining, “It is against our Community Guidelines for previously terminated users to use, possess, or create any other YouTube channels.” Creators also aren’t supposed to allow terminated users to bypass their ban, but Patrick Bet David’s interview with Nick Fuentes uploaded on Tuesday remains live and has received more than 2.2 million views at the time of publication.
YouTube told Gizmodo it plans on opening a pathway “for some terminated creators to start a new channel,” but indicated, “This will not be available to all creators, it will be a limited pilot.” Terminated users who are not a part of the pilot program will remain ineligible to create a new channel.
The company clarified that its pilot will focus on users who were terminated for “repeated violations of COVID-19 and election integrity policies that are no longer in effect,” as it indicated in its letter to the House Judiciary Committee. (Rep. Jordan posted on X that YouTube would “offer ALL creators previously kicked off YouTube due to political speech violations to return to the platform,” but it seems that may be a bit of an overstatement.) YouTube did note that an additional subset of creators will also be eligible for reinstatement through the pilot, but did not provide details about who would qualify.
Let’s be real: This will inevitably continue for YouTube. When a user doesn’t get invited to the pilot program, they’re going to hear from the Online Right. When they choose not to reinstate a creator for whatever reason, they’re going to hear from the Online Right. When a reinstated creator has a video taken down because it violates current content policies, they’re going to hear from the Online Right. The company has opened the floodgates now, and the Right will make a point of holding the company to a promise that it technically didn’t make, as “an opportunity” to rejoin the platform is not the same as a guarantee, nor is it an invitation to ignore the rules.