YouTube deleted a video where Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson expressed his disapproval of the pending approval of the COVID vaccines for kids aged 5 to 11. The platform said the video violated its policies on misinformation.
Sen. Johnson made the comments in an interview with Dan O’Donnell. When the reporter posted the video, it was removed by YouTube over violation of misinformation policies.
“I have just been informed that @YouTube has removed my interview with Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) and suspended my account for a week,” O’Donnell tweeted. “Johnson, A SITTING UNITED STATES SENATOR, said he disagreed with the FDA’s pending approval of vaccines for 5-11 year olds.”
In a subsequent tweet, O’Donnell wrote: “The fundamental American ideal of free and open discourse between representatives of the people (Senator Johnson) and members of the press (me) is being willfully and maliciously suppressed by companies like @Google through the outright censorship of platforms like @YouTube.”
In the interview, Johnson also said that he did not support the pending vaccine mandate for all employers with more than 100 employees.
Sen. Johnson has previously been suspended by YouTube for touting hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID. Following that suspension, the Republican senator said:
“YouTube’s ongoing COVID censorship proves they have accumulated too much unaccountable power.”
