Senator Rand Paul suspended from YouTube for saying 'cloth masks don't work'

Senator Rand Paul was suspended from YouTube on Tuesday for reportedly violating the company's COVID-19 misinformation policy after posting a video that said cloth masks are ineffective against COVID-19.

"A badge of honor ... leftwing cretins at Youtube banning me for 7 days for a video that quotes 2 peer reviewed articles saying cloth masks don't work," Paul tweeted Tuesday.

In the now removed video, Paul, who is a doctor as well as a senator, claimed that "most of the masks you get over the counter don't work. They don't prevent infection," adding that "cloth masks don't work," according to The New York Times.

A YouTube representative told the Times that comments made in the three-minute video had violated the company's policy on Covid-19 medical misinformation,  including "claims that masks do not play a role in preventing the contraction or transmission of Covid-19."

"We apply our policies consistently across the platform, regardless of speaker or political views, and we make exceptions for videos that have additional context such as countervailing views from local health authorities," the said the representative in a statement.

"I haven't lied. I haven't used expletives. I haven't spread misinformation. I have only told the truth about what our government seeks to do to us, curtailing our most basic liberties, using the COVID-19 pandemic as their excuse," said Paul on Liberty Tree in response to his suspension.

Another video, titled "It Is Time For Unfiltered News," was also removed by YouTube, in which Paul slammed the tech giant for actions made by YouTube, according to the Daily Wire.

"Censorship by YouTube is very dangerous as it stifles debate and promotes groupthink where the 'truth' is defined by people with a political agenda," said Paul in the video.

"YouTube said the video violated their policy because of my comments on masks, and that they don't allow videos that contradict government's guidance on COVID," he added.

In a statement made during a press call earlier on Tuesday, Paul slammed alleged ties between big tech corporations and journalism, as well as the government.

"I'm not sure when YouTube became an arm of the government, and I'm not really sure it's good for journalism to also be an arm of the government without any repercussions or push back,” said Paul said.

Paul went on to address the fine line between private company actions and free speech violations, stating "I think private companies have the right to ban me if they want to, but I think it is really anti-free speech, anti-progress of science, which involves skepticism and argumentation to arrive at the truth."