by Sean Moran
Google on Tuesday promised to restore YouTube accounts that have been banned for political speech, admitting that the Biden administration pressured it to censor Americans that did not violate the company’s terms of service, in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH).
“Reflecting the Company’s commitment to free expression, 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if the company terminated their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect,” a lawyer representing Google wrote to Jordan.
The letter would likely affect pro-Trump political commentators such as White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka, War Room host Steve Bannon, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, whom were banned over speech relating to the coronavirus pandemic or election-related content.
YouTube had banned Bongino, who moved to alternative video streaming platform Rumble, over alleging spreading misinformation about masks during the coronavirus pandemic.