A Florida based and well known firearms manufacturer, Spike's Tactical, is crying foul after YouTube took down their long established channel for allegedly posting "violent content" that "violates YouTube standards."
Spike's Tactical argues YouTube banned their channel without prior warning, catching the company, customers and fans completely off guard.
A visit to the company's YouTube channel shows a red banner with the text, "This account has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy against spam, deceptive practices, and misleading content or other Terms of Service violations."
The family owned company, which was founded the day before 9/11/2001, also received this message from YouTube about their content.
But a closer look shows Spike's Tactical didn't post violent content that would violate terms. Instead, YouTube is taking issue with the fact the company manufacturers AR-15 rifles. Spike's Tactical is also an outspoken opponent of Antifa.
“This is without question an attack on free speech,” Spike’s Tactical Marketing Director Kit Cope said in a statement. “We feel strongly that after they get done going after guns, they’ll continue to ban and erase content that falls in line with conservative ideologies like they have already demonstrated with the deletion of anti-abortion videos and the like.”
Spike's Tactical maintains the company uses the YouTube channel for educational purposes and to demonstrate their products.
The AR-15 is the most widely owned, most popular rifle in America.