Overview

• Alphabet told Congress that senior Biden officials repeatedly pressed YouTube to remove COVID-19 content that did not violate its rules, calling the pressure unacceptable and wrong.
• YouTube ended standalone COVID-19 policies by December 2024 and retired a separate election-integrity policy in 2023, and it will now offer an opportunity for creators terminated under those now-retired rules to rejoin.
• The company said it has not and will not empower third-party fact-checkers to label or remove content, and it is testing a Community Notes–style feature to add user-provided context to videos.
• Reports say the change could open the door for the return of high-profile conservative channels, including those of Dan Bongino, Steve Bannon, Sebastian Gorka, and Children’s Health Defense.
• The 28-page letter from counsel Daniel Donovan was produced in response to Republican-led subpoenas, and it did not specify eligibility criteria, whether past content or monetization will be restored, or a timeline.