from Zerush@lemmy.ml to technology@lemmy.ml on 24 Sep 00:46
https://lemmy.ml/post/36579656
YouTube announced it will restore thousands of channels that were previously banned for violating its COVID-19 and election integrity policies[^1]. This decision came in a 28-page letter from Alphabet to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on September 23, 2025[^7].
The company acknowledged that Biden administration officials had pressured YouTube to remove content “that did not violate its policies,” which Alphabet called “unacceptable and wrong”[^1][^7]. YouTube’s current guidelines now permit a “wider range of content” regarding COVID-19 and elections[^1].
Notable figures who could return include Dan Bongino (now FBI Deputy Director), White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka, and others who were banned for discussing COVID-19 or election claims[^14]. The platform will offer terminated creators a process to rejoin if they were banned for violating policies that are no longer in effect[^7].
As part of this change, YouTube will also ban the use of official fact-checkers on its platform, instead launching a feature similar to X’s “Community Notes” that allows users to provide context on videos[^7].
[^1]: Ars Technica - YouTube will restore channels banned for COVID and election misinformation
[^7]: Deseret News - YouTube restores accounts that were censored over COVID-19 and 2020 election claims
[^14]: Washington Examiner - YouTube content creators no longer banned over political speech
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