'Unacceptable and wrong': Google admits to censorship under Biden administration, agrees to restore banned YouTube accounts
Google admits to censorship under Biden administration, agrees to restore banned YouTube accounts Photograph: (Credit: AFP)
Google has not shared a timeline for the restoration of accounts. The tech giant admitted to blocking acoounts in the letter to the House Judiciary Committee.
In a major development, tech giant Google has admitted to removing content and blocking certain YouTube accounts under pressure of the Biden administration during the Covid-19 pandemic and elections. Google revealed this in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee in response to the investigation into tech companies curbing free speech online during former US President Joe Biden's term. The letter, shared in White House release, also listed an updated Google policy which also involves unblocking accounts from YouTube. There has been no timeline shared for the restoration of accounts in the letter by Google's parent company, Alphabet.
Google admits censorship under Biden Administration
The letter sent by Google's lawyer admits to removing content under pressure from Biden administration even though it did not violate the tech giant's policies. It also acknowledged the pressure to remove content as "unacceptable and wrong" and that the company "has consistently fought against those efforts on free speech grounds." Below are other things Google admitted in the letter: 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 "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."
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
Who was impacted by Google's ban, and what's next
As the tech giant has agreed to unblock the banned accounts during Covid or elections, both regular and high-profile users may be able to use their account again. While there's no timeline shared, the policy shift may benefit big names such as former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, former White House counterterrorism adviser Sebastian Gorka, and podcast host Steve Bannon whose accounts were blocked by Google at the time.
The investigation into tech companies is part of a broader probe into the Biden administration's curbing of free speech online.
