YouTube has removed Kelly’s two channels, RKellyTV and RKellyVevo, and he won’t be able to create or own any future YouTube accounts in the wake of a federal jury in New York found R. Kelly guilty of racketeering and eight counts of sex trafficking. According to mxdwn writer Casey Melnick “The artist, who is already a convicted sex offender, has been charged with one count of racketeering rooted in alleged sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping and forced labor. He is also charged with eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which is an anti-sex trafficking statute.” Kelly is also facing separate charges in Illinois and Minnesota. Kelly won’t be sentenced until May, but he’s currently looking at a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, and he could receive a life sentence.
According to stereogum.com, both Reuters and Bloomberg have made reports about the situation: “As Reuters reports, YouTube spokesman says, ‘We can confirm that we have terminated two channels linked to R. Kelly in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines.’ Bloomberg reports that Nicole Alston, YouTube’s head of legal, has written a memo, saying, ‘Egregious actions committed by R. Kelly warrant penalties beyond standard enforcement measures due to a potential to cause widespread harm. Ultimately we are taking this action to protect our users similar to other platforms.'”
However, R. Kelly’s music is still up on the platform, due to the nature of YouTube music being a streaming service much like Spotify and Apple Music, neither of which have pulled his music from their platforms either.
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