Young male with a laptop on You Tube page. Edward George / Alamy
Banning people who voice extreme views on social media does actually reduce their audience. The practice of “deplatforming” – denying someone the ability to post on a social network after they violate the terms of service – has come into question in recent years, because it was thought that it may just relocate extremist users rather than reduce their reach. But now there is evidence that banning people who post extreme content from sites like YouTube greatly reduces their audience and influence.