Google Admits To Censorship Under Joe Biden, Plans To Restore Banned YouTube Accounts

Google has announced a significant policy change that may allow previously banned YouTube accounts to be reinstated. In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, the tech giant acknowledged removing certain content under pressure from the Biden administration, particularly content related to Covid-19.

The letter, authored by a Google lawyer, outlined the company's revised approach. It indicated that users who were permanently banned for political speech, especially regarding Covid-19 or elections, might now have an opportunity to return to the platform.

This policy adjustment could affect both regular users and prominent figures such as former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, former White House counterterrorism adviser Sebastian Gorka, and podcast host Steve Bannon. All were previously removed from YouTube for posting content that violated the platform's policies at that time.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, has not yet provided a timeline for when or how the reinstatement process will commence.

According to The New York Times, Alphabet submitted the letter in response to an extensive investigation by Republicans examining whether tech companies limited speech on their platforms at the urging of the Biden administration. This was part of a broader Republican effort that included a lawsuit against the Biden administration for suppressing online speech.

In the letter, Alphabet stated that YouTube had experienced pressure from the Biden administration to remove content that didn't violate its policies. The company described such governmental pressure to police speech as "unacceptable and wrong" and asserted that it "has consistently fought against those efforts on free speech grounds."

As per the news release, Google also disclosed the following to the House Judiciary Committee:

The Biden Administration pressured Google to censor Americans and remove content that did not violate YouTube's policies.

The Biden Administration's censorship pressure was deemed "unacceptable and wrong".

Public debate should never be compromised by relying solely on "authorities".

The company will not utilize third-party "fact-checkers".

Europe's censorship laws target American companies and threaten American speech, including the removal of "lawful content".

These significant admissions follow Chairman Jordan's subpoena to Google and a years-long investigation into the company.