Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is pressing YouTube to restore the accounts of Alex Jones and Nick Fuentes.
“I think it’s better if you just unlock those accounts and let the guys be heard,” Ramaswamy said in a YouTube video. “Censorship isn’t good for America. It’s antithetical to our culture.”
Jones and Fuentes’ accounts were taken down four days ago, hours after their creation.
“Sounds a little ridiculous,” Fuentes wrote on X. “Can’t we just have free speech?”
YouTube last week said it was allowing creators whose accounts were banned for violating previous policies against questioning COVID-19 vaccination and the 2020 election the chance to rejoin the platform.
But on Thursday, the company was holding firm.
“We terminated these channels, as it’s still against our rules for previously terminated users to start new channels,” YouTube explained.
“The pilot program for terminations that many people have been referencing this week isn’t available yet and will be a limited pilot program to start. We’ll have more on how the program will work, who is eligible, and how creators can access it soon.”
Jones’ account was removed from YouTube prior to the COVID-19 pandemic for violations of what it called hate speech and child endangerment, and Fuentes was banned in 2020 for what the company labeled hate speech.
Ramaswamy, who’s aiming to win Ohio’s governor race next year, compared the removals to the temporary suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
“Our country is at its best when we’re able to hear one another. Nick Fuentes & Jimmy Kimmel probably don’t like me, for different reasons,” Ramaswamy wrote on X. “I don’t care. It’s still un-American to muzzle the peaceful expression of opinions. And no, that’s not a legal point; it’s a cultural point.”
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