YouTube starts removing election fraud content; experts say it’s unprecedented

YouTube announced on Dec. 9 that the company will immediately start removing content pertaining to alleged “widespread fraud or errors” that took place in this year’s presidential election, a move that experts say is unprecedented in its scope and warned such censorship could trickle into every other major platform.

In a statement, the video-sharing platform said it will begin “enforcing this policy today, and will ramp up in the weeks to come.” The company said news coverage and commentary on these issues “can remain on our site if there’s sufficient education, documentary, scientific, or artistic context.”

The company, which is owned by Google, didn’t provide additional context but offered an example, saying, “We will remove videos claiming that a Presidential candidate won the election due to widespread software glitches or counting errors.”

The reason YouTube gave for the change is that the Dec. 8 “safe-harbor deadline” for the U.S. Presidential election” had passed, and that “enough states have certified their election results to determine a President-elect.”