YouTube has shut down the official channel of popular Nigerian televangelist TB Joshua's megachurch Due to hate speech violations.
This ban is coming in after an investigation of the late preacher's alleged extensive sexual abuse and torture was conducted by the BBC and openDemocracy. The late preacher's wife Evelyn Joshua has been at the helm of affairs as leader of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (Scoan) since his passing in 2021.
Although the church has not reacted to this action taken by YouTube, it has stated that prior accusations of misconduct were "unfounded". On YouTube, Emmanuel TV has hundreds of millions of views and more than half a million subscribers.
The YouTube channel of the church has been suspended twice in the last three years due to violations of the community standards on the platform.
OpenDemocracy examined Emmanuel TV's online presence as part of the BBC inquiry and claimed to have discovered at least 50 "abusive" videos on YouTube.
Following a notification from the YouTube team, the account was banned on January 29. The Google-owned video-sharing website informed the BBC that Emmanuel TV had been "terminated for violating hate speech policies."
Famous for his "healing" ministry, TB Joshua recorded hundreds of services purporting to show him healing the physically ill and physically crippled. These claims have since been refuted by several former churchgoers.
Some of the items that were exposed on Emmanuel TV by OpenDemocracy include images showing mentally ill persons being held in chains, instances of medical disinformation, and instances of smear efforts against women who came out about TB Joshua's sexual assault.
Following the publication of BBC's investigation into TB Joshua, some contributors have received online trolling from accounts connected to the church, and Emmanuel TV. These accounts have also been reported to BBC by OpenDemocracy, but they are yet to be taken down.
YouTube and other social media platforms have come under intense scrutiny in recent years over their online safety policies.
