YouTube has sidelined Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — at least temporarily — after he posted a video urging Americans to “resist” mandates and calling into question the usefulness of most masks in fighting against COVID-19.
Paul, however, isn’t bothered by the seven-day ban from the platform. In a tweet posted Tuesday, the senator called it “a badge of honor.”
In response to YouTube’s censorship of Paul, journalist Glenn Greenwald pointed out the Republican lawmaker simply echoed sentiments voiced last week by President Joe Biden’s former COVID-19 adviser, epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm, who told CNN cloth masks are ineffective against the latest “Delta variant” of the novel coronavirus.
Dr. Zeke Emanuel, who served on Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board prior to Inauguration Day, reiterated the same message on MSNBC, where he said cloth masks “are not good enough” to stop the spread of the virus.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki, it should be noted, dismissed their comments by telling reporters they are no longer government advisers.
Nevertheless, YouTube is standing by its decision to single out Paul.
In a statement to CNN, the platform described the ban against the Kentucky senator as a “first strike” in its “three-strikes policy.”
“This resulted in a first strike on the channel, which means it can’t upload content for a week, per our longstanding three-strikes policy,” the statement read. “We apply our policies consistently across the platform, regardless of speaker or political views, and we make exceptions for videos that have additional context, such as countervailing views from local health authorities.”
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In a separate video — which YouTube also scrubbed from its platform — Paul said the big tech company “might be a private entity” but it is “acting like an arm of the government, censoring those who provide an alternative view to the science deniers in Washington, people like Dr. [Anthony] Fauci, who have lied to the American people time and time again about masks.”
“Most of the masks you get over the country don’t work,” he explained. “They don’t prevent infection. Saying cloth masks work when they don’t actually risks lives, as someone may choose to care for a loved one with COVID while only wearing a cloth mask. This is not only bad advice, but also potentially deadly misinformation.”
Paul defended his earlier video, saying its content “is actual science.”
“Censorship by YouTube is very dangerous,” he said, “as it stifles debate and promotes groupthink, where the truth is defined by people with a political agenda.”
***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***