Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority
TL;DR
- In September, Alphabet attributed YouTube’s censorship policies to pressure from the Biden administration.
- Numerous YouTube executives have given testimonies that directly refute that claim.
- Now Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, is demanding answers.
The last ten months have to be the start of one of the most embarrassing years for tech heavyweights in recent memory. One after another, companies like Apple, Meta, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Amazon and, of course, Google, have bowed down to a government administration they had previously clashed with. But in 2025, acquiescence is the name of the game, and instead of preparing for another four years of conflict, they’ve been kissing the ring.
A few weeks ago, this extended to YouTube, which radically reversed the necessary steps it had taken to ban some of the worst voices from its platform, spreading lies, hate and misinformation, rather than opening the door to restoring their access. That measure was telegraphed in late September when Alphabet The legal counsel submitted a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, blaming YouTube’s COVID-era moderation policies on pressure the company had received from the Biden administration.
Now a new letter from a high-ranking member of the Committee Jamie Raskin confronts YouTube CEO Neal Mohan with statements from numerous YouTube VPs and other executives, all making the same claims: They never saw any pressure from the Biden administration and instead developed their policies internally (via cabling).
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Rep. Raskin pulls no punches in his letter, asking Mohan directly: “What did the Administration promise your company and what did it threaten you with?” After highlighting several testimonies from YouTube executives, none of which appear to remotely support the statements Alphabet made in its September letter, Raskin asks incredulously what we’re supposed to believe:
Are you now claiming that all of these witnesses lied or misled the Committee? Is it more likely that these 20 witnesses got together to plan and provide false testimony or that you wrote an unsworn letter contradicting them all to placate President Trump and his servants?
Raskin continues to request documents related to content moderation policies and communication with the government, and identifies any testimony from YouTube executives that the company now claims is false. The politician concludes by inviting Mohan to appear for an interview before the Committee next month; We wouldn’t hold our breath if he accepted.
We’ve reached out to Google to see if it has anything to say about this development and will update this post with what we eventually hear.
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