On Monday, Conservative political commentator Steven Crowder launched a lawsuit against YouTube for its content practices and policies, which he says are silencing conservative voices.
"As of last Thursday, May 14, my lawyer Bill Richmond and I have filed a notice of a lawsuit against YouTube and are seeking an injunction to prevent them, to stop them from currently deplatforming us," Crowder said on his show Louder with Crowder. "We've officially sent a notice of a lawsuit. Very different level – this is the big one, boys and girls."
In 2021 alone, YouTube demonetized Crowder's videos and issued two strikes against the account, CBN News reports.
YouTube had removed Crowder's video from March 16 containing references to slavery. The company argued that the video was removed due to a violation of its COVID-19 misinformation policy and not its policy on hate speech.
Christian Headlines could not independently confirm what the video said in its entirety since the video was removed.
YouTube also reportedly claimed that Crowder spread misinformation about the 2020 election.
The following month, Crowder received a second strike for comments about a police shooting in Columbus, Ohio, where a police officer fatally shot black teen Ma'Khia Bryant as she was trying to stab another girl.
At the time, YouTube contended that Crowder was "reveling in or mocking" the young girl's death.
On Monday, Crowder rejected the charge while Richmond advised listeners that even if the commentator had violated YouTube policy, his show was exempt because it is a comedy show.
"This really isn't just about us. We can find ways that we can broadcast to you," Crowder said. "But this is the world's most powerful company – arguably, when you look at YouTube, Google, Alphabet – and they make sure that they ghost you where people cannot find, not us, but the point of view."
"In other words, in that same point in time when we're talking specifically about the Columbus issue, you can go to Stephen Colbert, you can go to CNN, they're all uploading at that same time with information that we know to be incorrect," he argued. "To not allow half the country, half the world ever to correct those mistruths under some misguided and, frankly, not outlined policy … the last thing I want to be doing is doing a lawsuit with Google and YouTube for crying out loud."
Richmond argued that by banning these videos, YouTube has essentially said, "these ideas are so dangerous that we can't address them or rebut them, we can't criticize them, we just have to extinguish the opinions entirely. We have to eradicate these opinions from the planet because we can't deal with them."
"But the reality, this is a comedy show that takes on important issues," the attorney continued. "Commentary, politics, issues that are facing everyone in every part of the nation and the world, and we have to be able to talk about them."
According to The Daily Wire, Crowder's lawsuit against YouTube is the second one filed against a big tech company this year. In February, Crowder announced he was suing Facebook for censoring his content.
Crowder is a comedian, media host and conservative podcaster. Crowder also has a large following on social media, including 5.4 million followers on YouTube. He was formerly a contributor to Fox News.
Photo courtesy: Christian Wiediger/Unsplash
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
