YouTube Temporarily Bans, Demonetizes OAN For Pushing Coronavirus Misinformation

The Google-owned social media giant also temporarily blocked OANN - a favorite channel of President Donald Trump - from making money off of existing videos, YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi said Tuesday.

She said the video that was taken down claimed that hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug touted by Trump despite a lack of scientific evidence, could cure COVID-19.

One America News Network has been suspended for one week from YouTube and is unable to post new videos or livestreams.

That segment appeared to have been removed from OANN's website, but its unclear when.

YouTube has faced criticism for allowing the spread of disinformation about COVID-19 and about the presidential election.

Axios reported that OANN has been demonetized, as well, due to a suspension from the YouTube Partner Program. "Since early in this pandemic, we've worked to prevent the spread of harmful misinformation associated with Covid-19".

Democratic Sens. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Gary Peters of MI wrote on Tuesday to YouTube's CEO to request that her company, "take responsibility and immediately stop the spread of misinformation and manipulated media".

This is easy for OAN to do, because it is unencumbered by any journalistic responsibility to report provable facts. Several OAN clips on YouTube falsely told viewers that Trump won the November 3 presidential election.

Mr Trump has encouraged viewership.

This week, a group of Democratic senators wrote to YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki, urging it to remove all election outcome misinformation.

YouTube's current policy does not prohibit posting videos with false claims about the election.

The suspension will last a week, during which time no new videos can be put up. She went on to vow that she would "blow up" Georgia with a "biblical" lawsuit.Also on Sunday, just a few days after Powell headlined the Trump team's insane press conference in which she laid out her freakish voter fraud conspiracy, Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis released a statement disavowing Powell and distancing her from their legal efforts.