In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, YouTube says it will reinstate creators it banned for COVID and election misinfo, and blames Biden officials for the bans
This. Big Tech had the legal power to stop censorship and make good law, and didn't use it. Hopefully they'll have more courage in future. Elon Musk / @elonmusk : Well done! Julia Alexander / @loudmouthjulia : Was only a matter of time. I mean, kind of hard for YouTube to say creators should be deplatformed for misinformation when the biggest covid and 2020 election misinformation is coming from the white house and its various agencies. Anyway, something something information crisis @judiciarygop : 🚨 HUGE NEWS: -Kicked off creators can come back -No fact-checkers -Community notes feature David Sacks / @davidsacks : Elon did this 3 years ago but better late than never. Bluesky: Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : YouTube plans to reinstate accounts of people banned for spreading COVID and election misinformation such as Steve Bannon, FBI deputy director Dan Bongino and White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka. — The company blames the Biden administration for pressuring them to ban the accounts. … Forums: BeauHD / Slashdot : YouTube Reinstating Creators Banned For COVID-19, Election Content See also Mediagazer
The move also fits the broader moderation-policy pullback in which Meta and YouTube were reported to be following X away from policing political misinformation. YouTube's letter adds a direct political-accountability dimension by attributing earlier bans to pressure from Biden administration officials.
First-order effects
Previously banned creators, including the examples named in YouTube's letter, can seek to return to the platform; YouTube must apply a reinstatement process rather than maintain those bans.
YouTube publicly shifts responsibility for earlier COVID-19 and election-misinformation removals toward Biden administration officials, intensifying scrutiny of how government outreach and platform decisions interacted.
Second-order effects
Other large platforms face added pressure from lawmakers and political figures to revisit legacy misinformation bans and to explain any government contacts behind enforcement decisions.
A return of high-profile banned accounts can increase the value of moderation alternatives such as community-driven annotation, while reducing the centrality of platform fact-checking in politically sensitive categories.
The central policy dispute may increasingly concern whether official requests to platforms amount to improper coercion, making records of government-platform communication a more consequential part of content-governance debates.
The trend: Major platforms are recasting political-misinformation moderation from a trust-and-safety obligation into a contested question of platform autonomy and government influence.
🚨BREAKING: Due to our oversight efforts, GOOGLE commits to offer ALL creators previously kicked off YouTube due to political speech violations to return to the platform. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. Thread: [image]
Absolutely huge. My thanks to the House Judiciary Committee, and their brilliant and committed staffers, for getting Google on-board with undoing the damage from 4 years of Biden Admin jawboning and European censorship threats.
@JudiciaryGOP Will they be paying restitution? If they go back on the deal, do conservatives have a private right of action to sue to enforce this so called agreement?
DON'T MISS that YouTube owner Alphabet admitted 2House Judic Chair Jim Jordan that the Biden admin “pressed” the private company to remove content during COVID/silence some 2020 election criticisms BIG TECH should not be teaming up w govt to hinder ur FREE SPEECH
@JudiciaryGOP So - the fact that my reputation was allowed to be slandered, that i was not able to defend myself - is all ok. It is in the past, a “new day” - except it isn't. I can't ever get back the ability to defend myself during this period against those attacks, and those a…
Hey @Jim_Jordan EPOCH NEWS has been DEMONETIZED for 5 YEARS by @YouTube . Because YouTube wants to make the Chinese Dictatorship HAPPY! Can Google agree to FIX THAT?! Thanks pal!
Google tells Congress the Biden admin “press[ed] the Company to remove non-violative user-generated content” relating to COVID-19 and “created a political atmosphere that sought to influence the actions of platforms.” Gee, it sure would have been nice if Google sued over this [im…
Did Google just admit they rigged the 2020 elections? What's the consequence for this? The large channel bans for political speech and elections were in October 2020.
Back in the early days of COVID, YouTube suspended me for stating what we know to be fact: masks don't prevent the transmission of COVID-19. I'm glad to see YouTube is finally taking some accountability for its role in silencing those of us who questioned the official government
HUUUUUUGE WIN ON THE FREE SPEECH FRONT!!! Thank you our FIGHTER @Jim_Jordan on this, who has on them like glue for 3 years straight now and the efforts are paying off MASSIVELY
Republicans in Congress just achieved a huge victory for conservative voices on YouTube Suspended conservatives have now been brought back on Twitter/X and Youtube Time for Meta/Instagram to join the club and bring back suspended voices like @RealAlexJones, @Nero, @LauraLoomer
Google owes us all damages for what their censorship cost us. A quick “we're sorry” now that they're in trouble isn't going to cut. Their censorship cost us millions.
Thanks to House Republicans, Google admitted the Biden administration forced them into censoring content. Good move by Google to reinstate the YouTube accounts they banned for political content. I look forward to all the new free speech advocates on the Left celebrating this.
The radical Biden-Harris regime pressured platforms to silence conservative voices. Chairman @Jim_Jordan and @JudiciaryGOP are fighting to make sure it never happens again.
Finally! Google admits 1) that the Biden White House demanded censorship of legal content, and 2) that the European censorship law (DSA) could require it and other tech companies “to remove lawful content” both “within and outside of” the EU. The US must stand up to EU censors!
Google should not have waited to acknowledge it was pressured by the Biden administration to block content on its platforms. Google condemns jawboning now, but it failed to stand up for the rights of its users when it mattered. FIRE will continue to call on private institutions […
This is incredible! Last Congress, I served on the @Weaponization Committee and saw first-hand the blatant violations of constitutionally protected rights. The admission here by Google is jaw-dropping.
Sooooooo.... It WAS the Democrats under the Biden/Harris regime that VIOLATED the FIRST AMENDMENT FREE SPEECH RIGHTS of Americans. Google admits it! But don't hold your breath that ANY Democrat will be held accountable or EVEN apologize for his party. This was ACTUAL FASCISM👇👇🇺🇸
Any idea what percentage of those who were deplatformed by Google based on political speech were to the left of center? I'm guessing it was an exceedingly small group
Thrilled to see Google is now implementing what X did three years ago to support free speech. Community Notes continues to set the industry standard for a transparent, community-driven system that provides accurate context to posts, while effectively reducing its spread by
YouTube also: -Admits the Biden Admin censorship pressure was “unacceptable and wrong” -Confirms that the Biden Admin wanted Americans censored for speech that did not violate YouTube's policies -Details when YouTube began rolling back its censorship policies on political speech …
Translation: YouTube shut down right-wing election claims after the 2020 election because Democrats were in power. By 2023, Republicans won the House and were competitive for the presidency, so YouTube (which never yields to government pressure, of course) relaxed its policies. […
But @rumblevideo & @chrispavlovski never had to lift suspensions because Rumble didn't ban anyone for their opinions in the first place. And Rumble was the only major platform that never censored, suspended, or banned @realDonaldTrump. Rumble is the OG on free speech online.
“Gee, it sure would have been nice if Google sued over this when it mattered to avoid the Murthy v. Missouri outcome.” <— This. Big Tech had the legal power to stop censorship and make good law, and didn't use it. Hopefully they'll have more courage in future.
Was only a matter of time. I mean, kind of hard for YouTube to say creators should be deplatformed for misinformation when the biggest covid and 2020 election misinformation is coming from the white house and its various agencies. Anyway, something something information crisis
YouTube plans to reinstate accounts of people banned for spreading COVID and election misinformation such as Steve Bannon, FBI deputy director Dan Bongino and White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka. — The company blames the Biden administration for pressuring them t…