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

Google has announced a major policy change that could allow previously banned YouTube accounts to be reinstated. In a letter sent to the House Judiciary Committee, the tech giant admitted it had removed some content under pressure from the Biden administration, specifically content related to Covid-19.

The letter, written by a Google lawyer, detailed the company's updated approach. It stated that users who were permanently banned for political speech, especially regarding Covid-19 or elections, may now be given a chance to return to the platform.

This policy shift may impact both everyday users and high-profile individuals such as former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, former White House counterterrorism adviser Sebastian Gorka, and podcast host Steve Bannon. All were previously banned from YouTube for sharing content that violated platform policies at the time.

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

According to The New York Times, the letter was submitted by Alphabet, YouTube's parent company, in response to a lengthy investigation by Republicans into whether tech companies restricted speech on their platforms at the behest of the Biden administration. It was part of a broader attack by Republicans, which also included a lawsuit against the Biden administration for chilling speech online.

In the letter, Alphabet said that the streaming platform had faced pressure from the Biden administration to remove content that didn't violate its policies. It said that such government pressure to police speech was "unacceptable and wrong" and that the company "has consistently fought against those efforts on free speech grounds."

According to the news release, Google also admitted 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 "unacceptable and wrong".
• Public debate should never come at the expense of relying on "authorities".
• The company will never use third-party "fact-checkers".
• Europe's censorship laws target American companies and threaten American speech, including the removal of "lawful content".

These major admissions come after Chairman Jordan's subpoena to Google and a years-long investigation into the company.