Trump supporters Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson — better known as “Diamond” and “Silk” took to Twitter on Thursday to accuse YouTube of “censorship” and a violation of their 1st Amendment rights (yeah, we know) after the company demonetized a reported 95% of the duo’s videos:
.@YouTube @TeamYouTube stopped over 95% percent of our videos from being monetized, stating: "It's Not Suitable For All Advertisers"…….. pic.twitter.com/qDpaL8A4ec
— Diamond and Silk® (@DiamondandSilk) August 10, 2017
The pair thinks it might have something to do with their being Trump supporters and conservatives:
Wonder if @YouTube @TeamYouTube stopped the monetization of our videos because we are loyal supporters of the @POTUS ….Hummmm……….. pic.twitter.com/QNgy0384hQ
— Diamond and Silk® (@DiamondandSilk) August 10, 2017
Sounds like Censorship to us, which is a Violation of our First Amendment. A Bias Method used to Silence our Conservative Voices. @YouTube pic.twitter.com/SBrTsDDKFT
— Diamond and Silk® (@DiamondandSilk) August 10, 2017
YouTube responded with instructions the pair could follow to appeal the decision:
We introduced new $ icons to give you an easier way to appeal but revenue earned didn't change w/ this update: https://t.co/PJolm1KmBk
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) August 10, 2017
Coincidentally, Hardaway and Richardson met with officials at the Commerce Department on Monday to discuss ways in which to “grow their business and build their brand.” From Gizmodo:
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YouTube stars Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson—better known as “Diamond” and “Silk,” respectively—were invited to the Commerce Department’s headquarters this week, apparently to discuss ways in which they could expand their business. The pair runs a political blog aimed at promoting President Trump and denigrating his critics.
The Commerce Department revealed Diamond and Silk’s visit in a photo posted on the department’s official Twitter account, which said the duo had met with the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) to “discuss how to grow their business and build their brand.”
A spokesperson for the department later told Gizmodo that the tweet was deleted “‘out of an abundance of caution’ as the department was not clear it had received permission to post the photo”:
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