YouTube Permanently Bans Conservative Think Tank Without Explanation

American Principals Project routinely criticizes big tech censorship

Santi Ruiz • October 12, 2021 12:50 pm

YouTube on Monday permanently suspended the account of a conservative think tank that regularly criticizes big tech companies, including YouTube’s parent company, Google.

The streaming service gave no explanation for suspending the American Principles Project (APP), a group largely focused on public education reform. According to the group’s president, Terry Schilling, YouTube said only that APP had committed “severe and repeated violations” of YouTube’s community guidelines. In a statement provided to the Washington Free Beacon, Schilling speculated that APP had been banned “because we support Big Tech reform and have opposed Google’s previous efforts to censor conservative speech.”

Days before YouTube banned APP, the group came under fire from Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe. McAuliffe’s campaign on Sunday sent a fundraising email that called APP a “shadowy organization” that has “launched a barrage of attacks against” McAuliffe.

APP is the latest conservative organization suspended without explanation from major social media platforms. YouTube last week “permanently suspended” the account of Joe Kent (R.), a Washington state candidate for the House of Representatives. After the story was picked up by conservative outlets, YouTube reinstated the channel while maintaining that “we enforce our policies equally for everyone.”

APP director of policy Jon Schweppe said he received the suspension email at 6:30 AM with no prior warning. Following the suspension, APP was not able to access or download content it had posted to its YouTube page. Schilling said he is considering legal action against YouTube.

YouTube says it maintains a three-strikes policy, but it did not apply that policy in APP’s case. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

APP largely focuses on public school issues but has criticized big tech for restricting free speech and allowing children to access pornography and other obscene material. It lobbied against Section 230, the federal law that protects social media platforms from being held liable for speech hosted on their sites.

Google’s lack of explanation for the permanent ban could spur more calls for transparency in how big tech companies apply their content moderation rules. Scholars from across the political spectrum have called for federal rules on transparency that would require major social media companies to explain bans, suspensions, and other enforcement actions.