YouTube suspends Rudy Giuliani from earning ad revenue and extends Trump ban indefinitely

Partner Program allows popular channels to earn ad-revenue

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has more than 500,000 subscribers on YouTube (YouTube)

YouTube has suspended Rudy Giuliani from its Partner Program, preventing former president Donald Trump’s lawyer from making money from his videos.

The Google-owned platform also extended Trump’s channel suspension indefinitely after he was initially banned for one week for flouting its content policies.

"In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, the Donald J. Trump channel will remain suspended," a YouTube spokesperson said.

“Our teams are staying vigilant and closely monitoring for any new developments.”

YouTube’s policy forbids any channel from making unsubstantiated claims relating to elections, as well as “content alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of a historical US Presidential election.”

Mr Giuliani has consistently used his YouTube channel to spread misinformation relating to last November’s elections, which Mr Trump lost by more than 7 million individual votes and 74 electoral votes.

The former Mayor of New York’s channel, which has more than half a million subscribers, posted allegations of widespread voter fraud and irregularities in an attempt to subvert the election and overturn the results.

Mr Giuliani was personally involved in filing dozens of lawsuits in the weeks following the election as part of efforts to disrupt the democratic process, though Attorney General William Barr and officials in all 50 states found no evidence to support the claims.

Mr Giuliani’s most recent video on his YouTube channel is from 2 January – four days before the violent insurrection conducted by Trump supporters at the US Capitol. More recent videos have been removed by YouTube for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines.

The Partner Program suspension can be appealed, and Mr Giuliani can also reapply to it after 30 days if the underlying issues are addressed.

Despite pushing the same misinformation across his social media channels and being accused of inciting violence on 6 January with his call for a “trial by combat”, Mr Giuliani has so far managed to avoid the same widespread internet ban that Mr Trump has faced.

His Twitter account remains active with more than 1 million followers, as well as his official Facebook page.