Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing called out YouTube in a Twitter thread on Sunday, revealing a series of “violations” leveled against his company’s shows that he cast as a betrayal of the video platform’s stated commitment to open debate.
In just the last 90 days, Boreing said, accounts associated with The Daily Wire have received 104 violations for “Hateful and Derogatory” content, mainly directed at commentary about transgender issues. There have been more than 200 violations in the past few months, he added.
Accounts for Matt Walsh, Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens, Michael Knowles, Andrew Klavan, Brett Cooper, and Jordan Peterson have all received violations, Boreing said.
1/14 Over the last few months, @realDailyWire has received ~200 violations from @YouTube across our accounts for @MattWalshBlog, @benshapiro, @RealCandaceO, @michaeljknowles, @jordanbpeterson, @andrewklavan, and @imbrettcooper. Almost all are over coverage of the trans debate. 🧵
— Jeremy Boreing (@JeremyDBoreing) June 11, 2023
Penalties include Walsh being demonetized last month, Owens and Knowles being suspended for seven days after receiving a “second strike,” and Peterson getting his “first strike.” Three strikes in 90 days and an account gets deleted, Boreing noted.
“Everyone knew the truth then – just like everyone knows men are not women,” Boreing said. “YouTube only does more damage the longer it keeps its finger on the scales.”
The Daily Wire has taken a firm line against the radical transgender craze, especially when it comes to minors being subjected to irreversible chemical and even surgical treatments.
During discussions with YouTube, Boreing said, the video platform’s policy team “claims they want to be a place where we can debate this issue, but virtually every time we discuss it, we receive these violations.”
YouTube has a broad audience — over 25% of the U.S. population gets their news from the platform, and The Daily Wire is one of the largest news brands in that space, Boreing said. To highlight that reach, Boreing said Daily Wire-associated accounts had over 157 million views on YouTube last week, which equates to well over 20 million views a day.
Though Boreing predicted YouTube will eventually come around on the transgender debate — like it and other social media platforms did with policies governing posts about COVID and election issues — a reversal might come too late.
“Yet we are on the verge of losing access to the platform,” Boreing warned.
Sharing a screenshot from a YouTube blogpost that touts open political discourse being “core to a functioning democratic society,” Boreing questioned whether the platform is “too beholden to other powers” for unfettered debate. He highlighted large shareholders in Alphabet Inc. – the parent company of YouTube and Google, specifically tagging The Vanguard Group and BlackRock. YouTube will “have to check” with them, Boreing quipped.
8/14 @YouTube claims “the ability to openly debate political ideas, even those that are controversial” is “core to a functioning democratic society.” pic.twitter.com/BqWvsB8t7J
— Jeremy Boreing (@JeremyDBoreing) June 11, 2023
10/14 I’m sure @YouTube will have to check with its largest shareholders first, @Vanguard_Group and @BlackRock. pic.twitter.com/67dlW1M6dv
— Jeremy Boreing (@JeremyDBoreing) June 11, 2023
YouTube did not immediately return a request seeking comment on the thread.
The Daily Wire has positioned itself as a champion of free speech, challenging social media companies not to suppress the discussion of ideas, particularly in the debate over transgenderism, but it has become an uphill battle in some spheres. This struggle took center stage on Twitter a little more than a week ago, after Boreing announced that all DailyWire+ shows would be streamed on the social media platform amid a cancellation blitz against the conservative media company’s podcast hosts.
To mark the one-year anniversary of the 90-minute documentary “What Is A Woman?”, a groundbreaking documentary in which Walsh asks tough questions underlying the gender ideology movement, The Daily Wire posted the entire video to Twitter on June 1, the first day of Pride Month. The platform initially labeled the post as “hateful conduct” and restricted its visibility because of two instances of supposed “misgendering.”
Fierce backlash to the censorship ensued overnight, led by small accounts and prominent figures alike – including those belonging to Walsh and Boreing. Many questioned whether “Twitter 2.0” under owner Elon Musk was truly the free speech platform they were promised. Outrage grew until the restrictions were lifted and Musk himself promoted the film the following morning by retweeting the post and encouraging parents to watch. The tweet of “What Is A Woman?” has now garnered more than 180 million views.
Boreing’s thread on Sunday came on the heels of Peterson, a DailyWire+ contributor, revealing on Saturday that YouTube had removed a video — in which he and author Helen Joyce discuss gender ideology — for allegedly violating the platform’s “hate speech policy.” In a series of tweets, Peterson said, “To say I am tired of being accused in this manner by narcissistic authoritarians is to say almost nothing.” He ended up posting the full video to Twitter at Musk’s behest.
In concluding his thread, Boreing declared that The Daily Wire is committed to winning the fight over free speech, and will work to spread its views as widely as possible in the face of censorship by platforms that seem to side with leftist ideologies.
“It seems insane that a company claiming to value open debate could remove some of the biggest voices from its platform, calling our take – which is shared by over 1/2 the country– ‘hate speech’ and ‘harassment,’” Boreing said. “There’s one thing I know for sure: The Daily Wire will keep winning. Not because we are big enough or because we have enough money, but because we have to. YouTube is right, free speech is fundamental to a functioning democracy, especially around our most debated issues.”
“We will not stop speaking the truth, nor will we allow the Left to push us into a digital ghetto, unable to reach the very audiences who most need this debate. We will adapt our strategy, evolve our model, and continue to fight. And we will win,” Boreing added. “If YouTube truly believes in free speech, they must change these vague and capricious policies and their arbitrary enforcement. In the meantime, we will keep fighting and speaking the truth everywhere we can.”
