Update: YouTube has permanently barred Dan Bongino. While the right-wing radio and Fox News host's channel was on a one-week suspension for violating the misinformation policy, another account associated with Bongino posted another video with the same misinformation. That not only violated YouTube's misinformation policy, but also Google's terms of service involving skirting a suspension by posting on another channel. Then, while the one-week suspension that ensued from that second violation was still in effect, Bongino posted yet another video, the New York Times reports. Hence YouTube's decision to remove both of his channels and permanently ban him from using, owning, or creating any other channels. Our original story from Jan. 16 follows:
YouTube has pulled Dan Bongino's channel over a video the Fox News host posted claiming masks are useless against the coronavirus. The video violated YouTube's policies on COVID-19 misinformation, a spokesman said Friday night, resulting in a first strike against the channel, the Daily Beast reports. The first strike brings a one-week suspension. The scientific consensus is that masks indeed are effective in reducing the spread of the virus, and YouTube policy specifically prohibits saying otherwise, per the Hill.
The move costs Bongino money, per the Independent: He's out of YouTube Partner Program, which enables the monetization of his posts through ads, for at least 30 days. Bongino has nearly 870,000 YouTube subscribers. Another misinformation violation within 90 days would bring a two-week suspension, and a third could make the suspension permanent. Bongino Report shared an expletive-filled email it said he sent YouTube to object to the suspension. "We knew it was just a matter of time before the tyrannical, free-speech hating" company "would try to silence us," the email says. The message adds that Bongino will keep posting about "why masks have been totally ineffective in stopping this pandemic." (More YouTube stories.)
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