Donald Trump Lost

The giant has spoken.  Donald Trump lost.  YouTube says so.  The San Bruno-based company announced today that from here on out it will begin removing certain videos from its platform.  This comes after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a Republican effort to overturn the November 3rd, 2020 General Election.  This was the first such case to make it all the way to the high court.  The unanimous decision met the "safe harbor" deadline to overturn the results showing Joe Biden as the winner.

Photo © Henry Mulak

In its blog, YouTube says, "...enough states have certified their election results to determine a President-elect.  Given that, we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, ..."

The decision strikes a blow against conspiracy theorists, led by Donald Trump, who claim widespread fraud.  Without YouTube, such people and organizations will be forced onto platforms which hopefully can be more easily targeted by the rule of law and dealt with accordingly.

A Big Part of the Story

While this is a story about the election, it's also about the power of new media and the transformation in how Americans get information.  Much is being said about misinformation and its impact on American politics, but a kernel of hope can be derived from today's announcement.

For one, we see how giants like Alphabet-owned YouTube and Facebook are, at least, making what appear to be an attempt at culling the truth from what is now a constant flood of information.  But there's also a hopeful message here about where Americans are getting their news.  And that is, as the YouTube blog says: "Authoritative news organizations" are "the most popular videos about the election" on the platform.   As someone who works for one of those "organizations," and knows how much sweat and tears go into honest reporting, I'm am heartened by today's announcement.