YouTube to Restore Channels Banned for COVID-19, Election Misinformation

YouTube is preparing to restore channels that it banned for spreading COVID-19 and 2020 election misinformation, blaming the takedowns on pressure from the Biden administration.

YouTube made the announcement in a Wednesday letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, who has been investigating the Google-owned platform for allegedly censoring "lawful speech."

In response, Daniel F. Donovan, counsel for Google's parent company, Alphabet, said in a Tuesday  letter that, "YouTube will provide an opportunity for all creators to rejoin the platform if the Company terminated their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect."

Rep. Jordan is touting the letter as a win for freedom of expression. The reversal means that YouTube channels from right-wing pundits like Steve Bannon, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, and White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka can return. Other influencers are also demanding that YouTube restore specific videos that were previously terminated for spreading “medical misinformation.”

Alphabet’s letter adds: “YouTube values conservative voices on its platform and recognizes that these creators have extensive reach and play an important role in civic discourse. The Company recognizes these creators are among those shaping today's online consumption, landing ‘must-watch’ interviews, giving viewers the chance to hear directly from politicians, celebrities, business leaders, and more.”

The document also states that YouTube “has not and will not” use fact-checkers to moderate content. "The Company has a commitment to freedom of expression. This commitment is unwavering and will not bend to political pressure."

Google says it banned the aforementioned accounts after the Biden administration "created a political atmosphere that sought to influence the actions of platforms based on their concerns regarding misinformation," adding that it's "unacceptable and wrong when any government, including the Biden administration, attempts to dictate how the company moderates content."

A conservative publication sued the Biden administration over efforts to combat misinformation on social media, but the Supreme Court held last year that this was not a First Amendment violation as long as the feds didn't demand the content's removal.

The news arrives as President Trump is pressuring ABC to formally cancel Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show. As a result, some online users claim Republicans are engaging in "hypocrisy" that risks filling YouTube with more misinformation.

Jordan told CNBC this morning that the Kimmel controversy is more about "business decisions" than government regulation. "The government didn't influence, as evidenced by the fact they put him [Kimmel] back on last night." (He might want to have a conversation with the FCC chairman .)

It's not uncommon for companies to adjust their messaging depending on who is in the White House, mostly to avoid regulatory scrutiny and—more recently— tariffs .

In August 2024, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also wrote to Rep. Jordan to say the Biden administration had pressured his social media platforms to "censor" user posts about the COVID-19 pandemic. "I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg wrote, though he acknowledged that, "Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take content down, and we own our decisions."

Shortly before Trump returned to the White House this year, Meta announced plans to get rid of fact checkers and replace them with an X-like community notes feature.

During Trump's second term, Zuckerberg and other top tech CEOs— OpenAI's Sam Altman , Google's Sundar Pichai, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella, to name a few—have cozied up to the president , attending dinners where they lavished praise on him one by one and pledged to invest billions of dollars in the US economy. Several also contributed millions to Trump's inaugural fund and attended the inauguration in January.