Trump Asks Florida Judge To Instruct YouTube To Reopen His Account

Donald Trump has been trying out different methods to regain access to various social media platforms. Now, the former US President has asked a Florida judge to help reinstate his YouTube account after he was deplatformed following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

New York Post reported that on Monday, he called on the judge to issue a preliminary injunction in connection with his case against YouTube that would force the video-sharing company to reinstate his access to it. As per court documents, failure to issue an injunction would not only cause irreparable harm to Trump in the future as a potential political candidate, but also the Republican Party. This move would allow him to sell merchandise on the platform that is potentially critical to political fundraising efforts.

He apparently wants access to more social media platforms. His lawyers said that in the coming weeks, they plan to make similar requests in his suits against Twitter and Facebook.

Last month, Trump filed the class-action suits in coordination with the America First Policy Institute, against the tech companies where he asked for damages that could amount to "trillions" of dollars for an alleged violation of his First Amendment rights, according to Daily Mail.

For now, Trump remains banned indefinitely on YouTube. In March, Susan Wojcicki, CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, which also owns YouTube, said that his channel “remains suspended due to the risk of incitement to violence” and would be reinstated if that risk diminishes.

Katie Sullivan, executive director of America First Policy Institute’s Constitutional Litigation Partnership, said that social media platforms, including YouTube have “inconsistently applied their terms and services and their community standards.”

“What they do is say, ‘Hey, look, we have this free and open community you should join where you can share political thought, updates on family, or even have the ability to make a living.’" But according to her, the defendants don't apply their rules consistently or evenly, and they even censor specific voices so that other users only hear one side of a story.

This development comes amid Trump slamming Twitter for allowing the Taliban’s spokespersons to continue to use the platform to share updates on the group’s takeover of Afghanistan while the company chooses to ban him from the site.