Quiboloy-free: YouTube bans SMNI, KOJC channels
MANILA, Philippines — YouTube banned channels tied to controversial religious leader Apollo Quiboloy due to violations of the video-sharing website’s terms of service.
Reddit users noticed the change on Friday, July 7.
DID YOUTUBE TAKE DOWN SMNI NEWS ON ITS PLATFORM?
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) July 7, 2023
Reddit users noticed that the YouTube channel of SMNI News, owned by controversial preacher Apollo Quiboloy, has been terminated for allegedly violating the video-sharing platform's terms of service.
???? Reddit’s… pic.twitter.com/rv52RoOKfa
Quiboloy-led SMNI News, Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) and SMNI program "Laban Kasama ng Bayan" hosted by former anti-insurgency task force spokesperson Loraine Badoy were evicted from Youtube two weeks after the controversial pastor himself was banned due to a violation of community guidelines.
In a statement sent to Philstar.com, Google, the parent company of YouTube, said it "is committed to compliance with applicable US sanctions laws and enforces related policies under its Terms of Service."
The controversial pastor faces charges related to sex trafficking and money smuggling in the United States and has been on the most wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation since 2022.
"After review and consistent with these policies, we terminated the 'Laban Kasama ang Bayan,' KOJC, & SMNI YouTube channels," Google confirmed.
The removal of these channels came days after another video-sharing platform, TikTok, banned Quiboloy's account last July 3.
Before the takedown of these channels, SMNI had 1.71 million, KOJC had 5,220 and "Laban Kasama ang Bayan" had more than 100,000 subscribers, on YouTube respectively, according to archiving site, Waybackmachine.
SMNI runs a show where the red-tagging against government critics is done and has a partnership agreement with the Philippine Army. —Intern, Fatima Baduria; With reports by Cristina Chi and James Relativo
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