Google announced Tuesday it will reinstate YouTube accounts that were permanently banned for political speech, including those tied to COVID-19 and election-related content, while admitting it faced pressure from the Biden administration to remove certain material from the platform, as reported [1] by Fox News.
The company outlined the policy change in a document submitted to the House Judiciary Committee, obtained by Fox News Digital.
🚨 BIG WIN FOR FREEDOM 🚨 pic.twitter.com/6Ld4au2UgF [2]
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) September 23, 2025 [3]
The filing marks a significant reversal for YouTube, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, and could affect both average users and high-profile figures such as FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka, and “War Room” host Steve Bannon.
“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if the company terminated their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect,” Google’s lawyer wrote to the committee.
Bongino, one of the most followed conservative personalities on YouTube before being banned in 2022 for what the platform deemed COVID-19 “misinformation,” shifted his broadcasts to Rumble. He later ended his program after joining the administration this year.
The document also acknowledged YouTube “values conservative voices on its platform” and recognized their influence in public debate. But it also revealed Biden administration officials pressured Google behind the scenes during the pandemic.
“Senior Biden Administration officials, including White House officials, conducted repeated and sustained outreach to Alphabet and pressed the Company regarding certain user-generated content related to the COVID-19 pandemic that did not violate its policies,” the filing said.
The administration “created a political atmosphere that sought to influence the actions of platforms.”
Google emphasized that it also enforced content moderation under its own internal rules but has since rolled back many of those policies.
The disclosure comes as part of a Republican-led investigation into alleged censorship by big tech platforms surrounding COVID-19, the 2020 election, and Hunter Biden.
Meta, which owns Facebook, previously admitted it had faced similar pressure from the Biden administration and later abandoned its third-party fact-checking program.
Republicans have also pursued the issue in court. A lawsuit brought by two GOP state attorneys general challenged the administration’s role in social media moderation.
YouTube – Alphabet to House Judiciary Committee [4]
While lower courts sided with the plaintiffs, finding the government acted in a manner resembling an “Orwellian Ministry of Truth,” the Supreme Court dismissed the case on standing grounds in Murthy v. Missouri.
Meanwhile, the debate over government influence on media was reignited following late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s controversial remarks about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
While ABC briefly suspended Kimmel, the FCC’s involvement drew new attention to the practice of “jawboning,” where government officials pressure private companies to act on speech.
In addition to addressing censorship concerns, Google criticized European Union regulations such as the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, warning the measures impose “a disproportionate regulatory burden on American companies.”
The company told lawmakers it intends to remain “vigilant” in the face of foreign legal obligations that could affect U.S. users.