Then-President Donald Trump greets supporters as he arrives at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Ky., Aug. 21, 2019. According to reports on Friday, March 17, 2023, YouTube has restored Trump’s account. (Dale Greer/U.S. Air Force)
YouTube on Friday said it would restore an account belonging to former President Donald Trump, some two years after it was suspended amid fallout sparked by the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
"Starting today, the Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and can upload new content," YouTube said in a Friday tweet.
With restrictions lifted, Trump will also again be able to purchase ads on the video-sharing platform.
"We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election," YouTube said.
However, the platform made clear that Trump's channel will still be subject to their policies, "just like any other channel on YouTube."
YouTube suspended Trump's account days after the Jan. 6 insurrection, citing "the risk of further incitement of violence." A month later, the company vowed it would lift the restrictions when it determined "the risk of violence has decreased."
Since then, Trump's account, which boasts more than 2.6 million subscribers, had been blocked from uploading new videos and livestreams. Comments on past content were also disabled.
On Friday, a number of users began posting "welcome back" messages under Trump's still-existing clips.
The announcement follows similar actions by other social media outlets.
In January, Meta said it was reinstating Trump's accounts on Facebook and Instagram. And Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter back in October, welcomed the former President back after he shared a poll asking his followers whether or not Trump's Twitter account should be restored.
About 52% cast a vote for his return while 48% preferred that he remain blocked from the social media site.
Trump has not yet posted on either platform, turning instead to his own outlet, Truth Social. He shared a series of videos Friday morning, including several that claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen and that he should have been declared the rightful winner.
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