Why did YouTube ban Nick Fuentes? The political commentator and Alex Jones lost their channels hours after their reinstatement

Alex Jones and Nick Fuentes recently returned to YouTube with their new channels, which have now been taken down by the video platform. Notably, the duo was removed a long time ago, with Alex’s channel being taken off in 2018, followed by Nick around two years later, as per The Independent.

YouTube’s action towards both channels has led to criticism on social media from different personalities. Former Trump administration ally Vivek Ramaswamy also reacted on X (formerly Twitter) by writing:

“It’s still un-American to muzzle the peaceful expression of opinions. And no, that’s not a legal point, it’s a cultural point.”

According to The Daily Beast, the channels were launched after YouTube claimed a few days ago that the banned pages could appeal to be reinstated. While Nick’s channel was taken off due to hate speech in 2020, Alex’s channel was taken down for a similar reason, alongside other violations like child endangerment.

While Alex has not shared any response yet, Nick shared a statement through X on Thursday, September 25. Nick referred to YouTube’s latest update, stating that their “pilot program on terminations” is yet to be started, and wrote:

“So YouTube will only be reinstating channels they approve under a “limited pilot program” which hasn’t even started yet. Sounds a little ridiculous. Can’t we just have free speech? I’ve been banned since February 2020 when I was 21 years old.”

Meanwhile, YouTube has not replied to Fuentes’ post until now, and further updates on the same are currently awaited.

YouTube clarifies in a new statement that accounts will continue to get banned

Back on September 23, 2025, YouTube revealed in a letter that they would allow all the creators to return to their platform who were banned for violating certain rules. 
 

The letter was sent after the Republican Party member Jim Jordan sought to know whether the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris “coerced or colluded” with certain companies to censor speech. According to TechCrunch, the letter said that YouTube respects “conservative voices” as they believe that such creators can “play an important role in civic discourse.” 
 

The letter also says:

“Reflecting the Company’s commitment to free expression, YouTube will provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform if the Company terminated their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect.”

Notably, the policies of the popular platform did not remain too strict while the last year’s presidential election was approaching. This also led to the accounts of Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy being reinstated.

Although YouTube did not comment anything about the letter, they shared a post around two days later on X, clarifying that they will soon share more details on their “limited pilot program.” The platform additionally included a warning for the banned accounts opening new pages, as it stated:

“Our pilot program on terminations is not yet open. It’s still against our Community Guidelines for previously terminated users to use, possess or create other channels and we’ll terminate new channels from previously terminated users in accordance with these guidelines.”

Jim Jordan was also one of those who confirmed on X that YouTube would allow banned channels to return. However, he has not commented about the ongoing situation, as of this writing.