YouTube will reinstate accounts banned for spreading misinformation

YouTube will allow creators whose accounts were terminated for repeated violations of COVID-19 and election integrity policies to rejoin the platform, according to a letter that YouTube parent company Alphabet sent to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Tuesday.

“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if the Company terminated their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect,” Alphabet’s legal counsel Daniel F. Donovan wrote. “YouTube values conservative voices on its platform and recognizes that these creators have extensive reach and play an important role in civic discourse.”

This letter was a response to a subpoena from Rep. Jordan, who sought to investigate if the Biden-Harris administration had “coerced or colluded” with companies like Alphabet to censor speech.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many social platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter enacted policies to ban the spread of medical misinformation about the virus and vaccines. For example, YouTube disallowed content saying that vaccines can cause cancer, a false claim which is not supported by scientific research.

Later, platforms also took action against content falsely claiming that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was “stolen” from Donald Trump. Twitter, not yet bought and rebranded by Elon Musk, said that it suspended 70,000 accounts for sharing QAnon conspiracy content and inciting violence in the week after the January 6 riots.

But leading up to the presidential election in 2024, online platforms began loosening their policies around misinformation. On YouTube, this included reinstating president Donald Trump, whose account had been banned after the January 6 attack for breaking rules around inciting violence. The platform also reinstated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who became the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Now, according to the company’s letter to Rep. Jordan, all creators whose accounts were censored by these policies will be allowed back on the platform.

“While the reliance on health authorities in this context was well-intentioned, the Company recognizes it should have never come at the expense of public debate on these important issues,” the company wrote.

YouTube did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.