In the latest twist of the ongoing struggle between tech giants and content creators, controversial right-wing provocateur Candace Owens has found herself suspended from YouTube once more. Michael Knowles, her occasional co-host from the Daily Wire, delivered the news during a broadcast on the channel’s “Backstage” set, shared regularly with the far-right podcaster.
Knowles shed light on the suspension, explaining, “YouTube, you see, hates us,” pointing to the platform’s vague guidelines and what some describe as tyrannical tendencies towards conservative voices. The ban effectively bars Owens from posting or appearing on any of the Daily Wire’s YouTube channels, though the duration of the suspension remains undisclosed.
Despite this development, Knowles did not specify any particular instance of hate speech that led to Owens’ third suspension this year. This raises concerns of a potential permanent suspension if her suspension pattern aligns with YouTube’s three-strikes-in-90-days threshold. YouTube, in response, cited a violation of its hate speech policy, specifically prohibiting content that promotes hatred against protected individuals or groups, including the LGBTQ+ community.
Throughout the summer, Owens has stirred controversy with her provocative statements, including the assertion that sexual abuse underlies homosexuality. She attributes same-sex attraction to neural pathways and has propagated the notion that trauma and social contagion are responsible for homosexuality, with only a minute fraction being born with gender dysphoria.
This is not the first time Owens has courted controversy. She has made anti-LGBTQ+ remarks targeting public figures such as JoJo Siwa, Dwayne Wade’s trans daughter, Megan Rapinoe, and Lil Nas X. Her history of divisive rhetoric has been met with backlash, as many continue to debate the boundaries between free speech and hate speech in the digital age.
The suspension of Candace Owens from YouTube has reignited the ongoing discussion about the role of social media platforms in regulating content, especially when it comes to divisive figures with a history of targeting marginalized communities, including the LGBTQ+ community. The incident raises questions about where to draw the line between freedom of expression and the responsibility to protect vulnerable groups from hate speech.
This controversy is just one chapter in the larger debate surrounding online content moderation, emphasizing the challenges that platforms like YouTube face when it comes to enforcing their policies while navigating the complex landscape of political and social discourse.