Biden pressured Big Tech to censor political and COVID opponents – Google

Google has pledged to reinstate YouTubers banned for medical and political content after admitting in a letter to Congress that Joe Biden’s administration exerted “unacceptable and wrong” pressure on the platform to silence dissenting voices.

The disclosure, published by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, reveals that senior officials repeatedly urged Alphabet to remove content related to COVID-19, even when it did not violate company policy.

High-profile figures including Steve Bannon, Sebastian Gorka, and Dan Bongino were among those censored, with Bongino banned in 2022 for questioning mask effectiveness.

In its five-page statement, Alphabet committed to preventing future censorship by rejecting the use of outside fact-checkers, instead turning to crowdsourced “community notes” similar to those on X.

Jordan hailed the move as a victory against government-driven censorship, while Google also raised concerns over Europe’s new Digital Services Act, warning it imposes heavy restrictions that could threaten free speech in the U.S.

The development follows Meta’s 2023 admission that it, too, had bowed to White House pressure to suppress online content, including the Hunter Biden laptop story.