Google Reverses Course In Victory For Creators Banned From YouTube Over Political Speech
Google, YouTube’s parent company, will give video creators who were previously banned for violating political speech guidelines a chance to return to the platform, the company announced Tuesday. In a letter to the House…
Google, YouTube’s parent company, will give video creators who were previously banned for violating political speech guidelines a chance to return to the platform, the company announced Tuesday.
In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee dated Sept. 23, Alphabet, Google’s holding company, acknowledged that it terminated YouTube channels for violating its guidelines on election integrity and COVID-19-related content. The company also disclosed that Biden administration officials repeatedly “pressed” it to remove content that did not violate company policy, but was deemed by the administration to be “misinformation.”
“YouTube will provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform if the Company terminates their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and election integrity policies that are no longer in effect,” Daniel Donovan, counsel for Alphabet, wrote in the letter.
“Senior Biden Administration officials, including White House officials, conducted repeated and sustained outreach to Alphabet and pressed the Company regarding certain user-generated content related to the COVID-19 pandemic that did not violate its policies,” Donovan continued. “It is unacceptable and wrong when any government, including the Biden Administration, attempts to dictate how the Company moderates content,” he wrote, adding that the company “fought against” those efforts.