Google’s YouTube, it turned out, had been censoring many voices for years. And — according to the House Judiciary Committee — the firm has now vowed to stop doing so:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, thanks to the oversight of Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Google commits to offer all creators previously kicked off YouTube due to political speech violations on topics such as COVID-19 and elections an opportunity to return to the platform.

Google also admitted the following to the House Judiciary Committee: 

1. The Biden Administration pressured Google to censor Americans and remove content that did not violate YouTube’s policies.
2. The Biden Administration censorship pressure was “unacceptable and wrong.”
3. Public debate should never come at the expense of relying “authorities.”
4. The company will never use third-party “fact-checkers.”
5. Europe’s censorship laws target American companies and threaten American speech, including the removal of “lawful content.”

These major admissions come after Chairman Jordan’s subpoena to Google and a years long investigation into the company. 

Read the full letter from Google here. 

“Google Admits Censorship Under Biden; Promises to End Bans of YouTube Accounts of Thousands of Americans Censored for Political Speech,” September 23, 2025

Senator Paul Rand must be among those who are pleased. He was himself among the Cancelled. And he wasn’t alone.

At the New York Post, Josh Christenson offers,

Users including current FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, now-White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka and “War Room” podcast host Steve Bannon had been yanked off the video site in recent years after being flagged for repeated violations of COVID-19” and “elections integrity” policies.

Those users will now be able “to rejoin the platform,” according to Donovan’s letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Post.

The Alphabet attorney also claimed in his missive to Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) that YouTube “never” prohibited posting related to COVID origins, and the site never “operated a fact-checking program” either.

“Google to bring back accounts banned at Biden admin’s insistence: ‘Unacceptable and wrong’,” September 23, 2025

We will probably hear varying responses to the claim that YouTube “‘never’ prohibited posting related to COVID origins.” The topic was radioactive in 2021.

Veteran Canadian broadcaster Brian Lilley comments on the story at his substack,

The company states that they tried to have their own policies on issues of concern like COVID-19 and election integrity but that Biden administration officials continued to try and remove content that did not violate company policy but was uncomfortable for the government.

We’ve already heard similar statements from Twitter, now X, after Elon Musk released the Twitter files. We heard similar claims from Mark Zuckerberg about the pressure on Facebook when he appeared on Joe Rogan podcast earlier this year.

Now we are hearing from Alphabet/Google/YouTube.

“Google makes Kimmel look simple,” September 24, 2025

So it appears that the Biden administration believed in censorship far more than many Americans had realized.

Lilley adds,

As much as I disagree with the FCC’s decision to get involved in the Jimmy Kimel affair, this simply doesn’t compare to the censorship Biden pushed. The Biden administration had a sustained attack on free speech over several years, Jimmy Kimmel had a suspension of a few days over a fight with his boss over what he would say on air.

That has happened to me in Canada, this is how the business works whether we like it or not. “Kimmel look simple,”

Lilley is referring to the fact that Kimmel’s network, ABC, was not happy with his comments either. That’s because they prompted criticism from affiliate stations:

The real key to understanding ABC’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air indefinitely is the affiliate system the broadcast networks operate under. There are about 250 ABC affiliate stations in local markets across the United States, some owned locally but most owned by other major companies.

They agree to carry ABC programming in their markets and to keep making money, ABC needs the affiliates just as the affiliates need ABC.

After Kimmel’s comments, claiming that Kirk was killed by a MAGA person, then mocking Donald Trump over one of many reactions to Kirk’s death caught on camera, the affiliates were furious.

“Here’s why Jimmy Kimmel’s show was yanked over his Charlie Kirk comments…” September 17, 2025

The US federal government was, from Lilley’s perspective, tossing a horseshoe into the works.

Meanwhile, some sources believe that Google is making a mistake. At Gizmodo, AJ Dellinger warns, “YouTube Is Going to Regret This”: “The company has opened the floodgates now, and the Right will make a point of holding the company to a promise that it technically didn’t make, as “an opportunity” to rejoin the platform is not the same as a guarantee, nor is it an invitation to ignore the rules.”

Dellinger is not late to the free speech party, like some. It appears that he never received an invitation. Perhaps there was a reason for that.