Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) is calling on YouTube to permanently ban President Trump after a January 6 foray into the U.S. Capitol. The change shows that the newly formed organization, made up of employees and contractors from Google’s parent company, is determined to influence issues that go far beyond workers’ rights.
On Wednesday, YouTube removed a video of Trump addressing the attack, citing his policy against content that alleges widespread electoral fraud. But the union called the response “lackluster” and said the company did not go far enough. “YouTube refuses to hold Donald Trump responsible for the platform’s own rules, choosing to just remove a video instead of removing it entirely from the platform,” they wrote in a statement. The platform “will continue to function as a vector for the growth of fascist movements if it continues to prioritize advertisers and expose the public,” they added.
Workers also highlighted the role of YouTube in enabling the growth of white nationalist movements. “YouTube should no longer be a tool for fascist recruitment and oppression,” they said. “Anything less is to approve of deadly violence: from Gamergate to Charlottesville, from Christchurch to Washington DC, from Jair Bolsonaro to Donald Trump. Alphabet, by failing to act, did tremendous damage: to the thousands of victims of hate and to the world. “
Alex Hanna, a research scientist at Google and an AWU member, says The Verge: “It is incredibly significant that our union has talked about YouTube’s complicity in perpetuating the content of white supremacy, misinformation and hate speech on the platform … As workers, we are in a unique position to speak out against this behavior and push Alphabet to being responsible for the social effects of its technology when it goes against its incentives to profit. “
Other platforms have already taken concrete steps to prevent Trump from continuing to spread falsehoods and incite violence. On January 7, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on a blog that Trump would be banned from Facebook and Instagram indefinitely, at least for the next two weeks.
Twitter took a slightly weaker stance, blocking Trump’s account for 12 hours. The company said it would permanently suspend the president if he continued to violate its policies.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge.