YouTube Bans Proud Boys Founder

Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes has been kicked off another website—but it's not because of his far-right beliefs, according to YouTube. A notice on the Canadian's account, which had around 221,000 subscribers, states that it has been terminated because of multiple claims of copyright infringement, CNET reports. The company says it is legally required to remove content when copyright holders notify it of infringement, and it moves quickly to terminate the accounts of repeat offenders. McInnes says he plans to file "counternotifications" arguing that the videos in question were either misidentified as copyrighted or allowable under fair use policies.

McInnes stepped down from the Proud Boys last month after it was linked to assaults and reports that the FBI considered it an extremist group. Before the YouTube ban, McInnes was kicked off Facebook, Instagram, PayPal, and Twitter, mostly due to violations of their terms of service, Gizmodo reports. McInnes was also fired by Blaze Media after its merger with CRTV. He told the Huffington Post on Monday that he was the victim of a "concerted effort" to "de-platform" him. "I'm finally out of platforms and unable to defend myself," he said. "We are no longer living in a free country." (Proud Boys members were arrested after an October brawl in New York City.)