Donald Trump acolyte and right-wing commentator Dan Bongino lashed out at YouTube on Friday after it temporarily suspended his channel for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
Bongino, who also hosts shows on Fox News and Fox Nation, was bounced after he said on his YouTube channel that masks are “useless” in stopping the spread of the disease.
“If I said I was surprised I’d be lying,” Bongino fired back on Twitter, apparently at a YouTube staffer, after he was informed of his suspension. “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, who frequently blocks Twitter followers who criticize him, signed off: “Respectfully, Kiss My Ass.”
A YouTube spokesperson told The Daily Beast that Bongino’s video was removed for “violating our policies on COVID-19 misinformation, specifically for comments that masks are useless, resulting in a first strike on the channel.”
The penalty for a “first strike” bars a user from uploading new videos for seven days.
The company on Friday also removed Bongino’s channel from its Partner Program, which allows users to monetize their content through advertising, for “repeatedly violating” guidelines on “harmful or dangerous acts.” A spokesperson declined to detail those acts to The Hill.
Critics on Twitter reminded Bongino that private companies have the right to set terms of use, and that the First Amendment does not protect all speech, such as broadcasting lies.