YouTube banned a former White House advisor after he refused to stop playing an Imagine Dragons song in his videos
- YouTube terminated former White House advisor Sebastian Gorka's account earlier this week after multiple claims of copyright infringement.
- According to the Daily Beast, Gorka repeatedly used the Imagine Dragons song "Radioactive" to introduce his radio show "America First," which was streamed on YouTube.
- Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds and Universal Media Group repeatedly requested that Gorka stop using the song, but Gorka continued to use the track for more than two months before his YouTube account was banned.
- Gorka is one of several conservatives who have accused social media platforms like Twitter and YouTube of having a biased agenda against conservative politics.
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YouTube terminated former Trump administration official Sebastian Gorka's account for multiple copyright violations earlier this week after he ignored multiple requests to stop using the Imagine Dragons song "Radioactive" as an introduction to his show "America First," according to a report from Will Sommer at The Daily Beast.
On August 23, Imagine Dragons lead singer Dan Reynolds sent a tweet directly to Gorka's account asking him to stop playing the band's music on "America First." More than two months later, members of the progressive watchdog group Media Matters pointed out that Gorka was still using the song. Reynolds said Universal Media Group was monitoring Gorka's page and blocking links to all videos that used Imagine Dragons music.
The conflict seems to have come to a head earlier this week when Gorka's account was terminated. Gorka apparently created a new YouTube account on November 4 and seemingly acknowledged that his original account had been banned in a tweet.
Gorka is one of several prominent conservatives, including President Donald Trump, who have accused YouTube's parent company, Google, of being biased against right-wing politics.
Gorka was one of the Trump administration's most outspoken voices until he left the White House in August 2017. In the months since his departure, Gorka has been hosting "America First," and he recently released a book called "The War for America's Soul" in October.
Business Insider has reached out to YouTube to ask whether Gorka's new channel is allowed under the platform's terms of service. Gorka did not immediately respond to a request for comment.