Google told the House Judiciary Committee it will reinstate YouTube accounts previously banned for posting “controversial” COVID-19 content, including those of Dan Bongino and Steve Bannon. The company said policies once used to justify removals for “repeated violations of COVID-19” and elections “integrity” are “no longer in effect.”
In the letter to Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Google admitted the Biden administration pressured the company to censor Americans and take down content that did not actually violate YouTube’s rules. The company called that pressure “unacceptable and wrong” and pledged that public debate should never be suppressed by reliance on government “authorities.”
Google also said it would not outsource enforcement to third-party fact-checkers and criticized European censorship laws that it argued target American companies and threaten lawful speech.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, credited Jordan’s years-long investigation with forcing accountability, writing that YouTube remains committed to “protecting free expression and access to a range of viewpoints.”
