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The Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) is calling on YouTube to permanently ban President Trump following a raid on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. The move shows that the newly formed organization, made up of employees and contractors from Google’s parent company, is committed to influencing issues that go far beyond workers’ rights.
YouTube deleted a video of Trump addressing the attack on Wednesday, citing his policy against content alleging widespread voter fraud. But the union called the response “lackluster” and said the company had not gone far enough. “YouTube refuses to hold Donald Trump accountable for platform rules by choosing to remove only one video instead of removing it entirely from the platform,” they wrote in a statement. The platform “will continue to function as a growth vector for fascist movements if it persists in prioritizing advertisers while exposing the public,” they added.
The workers also highlighted the role of YouTube in enabling white nationalist movements to develop. “YouTube should no longer be a tool for fascist recruitment and oppression,” they said. “Anything less is accepting murderous violence: from Gamergate to Charlottesville, from Christchurch to Washington DC, from Jair Bolsonaro to Donald Trump. Alphabet, by failing to act, has done enormous damage: to the thousands of victims of hatred and to the world. “
Alex Hanna, Google researcher and AWU member, says The edge: “It is extremely important that our union has spoken out on YouTube’s complicity in perpetuating white supremacist content, disinformation and hate speech on the platform … As workers, we are in a position unique to denounce this behavior and push Alphabet to be responsible for the social effects of its technology when it goes against its incentives for profit.
Other platforms have already taken concrete steps to prevent Trump from continuing to spread lies and incite violence. On January 7, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a blog post that Trump would be banned from Facebook and Instagram indefinitely, for at least the next two weeks.
Twitter took a slightly weaker stance, blocking Trump’s account for 12 hours. The company has said it will permanently suspend the president if he continues to violate its policies.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The edge.
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