Google announced on Tuesday (September 23) that it will allow YouTube accounts, previously banned for political speech, to be reinstated. This decision marks a significant policy shift for the tech giant, which admitted to having faced pressure from the Biden administration to remove content related to COVID-19. The change was detailed in a document provided to the House Judiciary Committee, first obtained by Fox News.
The new policy could impact both average users and notable figures such as FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka, and War Room podcast host Steve Bannon. These individuals were banned in recent years for content related to COVID-19 or election issues. According to the document, YouTube will now offer an opportunity for all creators to return to the platform if their channels were terminated for violating COVID-19 and election integrity policies that are no longer active.
Google’s document also acknowledged that the Biden administration had urged the company to remove perceived misinformation about COVID-19, although Google maintained that its content moderation was based on internal policies. The company has since rolled back those policies, reflecting a commitment to free expression.
This development comes amidst a Republican-led investigation into big tech companies’ censorship practices, focusing on COVID-19, the 2020 election, and Hunter Biden. The investigation parallels a lawsuit by two Republican attorneys general over social media censorship. Although the Supreme Court did not rule on the case’s merits, lower courts had sided with the plaintiffs, suggesting the federal government had pressured companies to censor speech.
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