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- Dan Bongino’s YouTube channel was temporarily suspended and demonetized on Friday.
- YouTube took action after Bongino said in a video that masks are “useless” in stopping the spread of COVID-19.
- Bongino responded by telling the video-sharing platform to “kiss my ass.”
The popular conservative pundit Dan Bongino has been temporarily suspended from YouTube for spreading misinformation about COVID-19.
A YouTube spokesperson told The Hill on Friday that Bongino was banned from posting videos for a week after he claimed in a video that masks are “useless” in stopping the spread of the virus.
Bongino’s comments are a “first strike” against his channel, and YouTube’s policy states that three strikes within a 90-day period will result in a permanent ban.
YouTube also told The Hill that it removed Bongino’s channel from their Partner Program, which allows him to monetize his videos through advertising.
The platform said that it had suspended Bongino’s monetization for “repeatedly violating” it’s advertiser-friendly guidelines on “harmful and dangerous acts.”
Bongino is one of the most influential figures in conservative media, and has around 870,000 subscribers on YouTube.
The right-wing commentator took to Twitter on Friday to share an expletive-ridden email he sent to someone called Coco from YouTube.
—Bongino Report (@BonginoReport) January 14, 2022
“We knew it was just a matter of time before the tyrannical, free-speech hating, bullshit, big tech shithole you work for, would try to silence us,” Bongino wrote in the email.
The conservative commentator added that he will shift his focus to video-sharing platform Rumble, of which is an investor.
“So here’s my deal to you, and there will be NO negotiation. After your “suspension,” I will immediately post content questioning why masks have been totally ineffective in stopping this pandemic. I dare you to do something about it,” Bongino wrote.
He signed the email with “Respectfully Kiss My Ass.”
Bongino, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, has emerged as one of the top conservative commentators on social media. He had two of the top five link posts on Facebook in the past week, according to a Forbes report on January 14.
A major study has previously shown that mask-wearing seems to be the most effective tool for combating COVID-19.
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