YouTube briefly suspends Murdoch-backed UK radio station

YouTube mistakenly suspended and then reinstated the channel for a U.K. radio station backed by billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, a spokesperson for the video platform confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.

The company said the account for TalkRadio, which is owned by Murdoch’s News Corp., had originally run afoul of YouTube’s policies around spreading COVID-19 misinformation.

“TalkRadio’s YouTube channel was briefly suspended, but upon further review, has now been reinstated,” the spokesperson said. “We make exceptions for material posted with an educational, documentary, scientific or artistic purpose, as was deemed in this case.”

It was unclear what content had triggered the initial suspension. A spokesperson for YouTube did not respond when asked for further details.

“YouTube is making decisions about which opinions the public are allowed to hear, even when they are sourced to responsible and regulated news providers,” TalkRadio said in a statement.

Despite the radio station saying that its channel was still down, the account was accessible and its videos were viewable at the time of publication.

YouTube has previously taken action against news networks that it says spread information about the coronavirus that runs contrary to the consensus of public health institutions.

The platform suspended the pro-Trump One America News Network from posting new videos for a week last November for claiming that there is a guaranteed cure for COVID-19.