Chairman Jordan Demands Answers on YouTube’s Second Amendment Content Restriction Policy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter to Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube, requesting documents and communications regarding its new policy change to further censor content relating to firearms and other constitutionally protected Second Amendment activity.
The Judiciary Committee's and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government's oversight has shown how the federal government has coerced or colluded with technology, social media, and other companies, including Alphabet, to moderate content online. Recent reporting and other publicly available information suggests that YouTube's decision to change its firearms policy may have been influenced by government officials and third parties interested in suppressing certain Second Amendment-related content.
Excerpts of the letter to Alphabet:
"The Committee on the Judiciary and Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government are conducting oversight of how and to what extent the Executive Branch has coerced or colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor Americans' speech. Congress has an important interest in protecting and advancing fundamental free speech principles. To develop effective legislation, such as the possible enactment of new statutory limits on the Executive Branch's ability to work with Big Tech to restrict the circulation of content and deplatform users, the Committee and the Select Subcommittee must first understand how and to what extent the Executive Branch coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech.
"As a part of this oversight, on February 15, 2023, after efforts to obtain the voluntary compliance of your client, Alphabet, the Committee issued a subpoena for relevant documents, with a return date of March 23, 2023. The subpoena compels Alphabet to produce communications between Alphabet and the Executive Branch, internal Alphabet communications discussing communications from the Executive Branch, and Alphabet communications with third parties that may have been working with the Executive Branch, in addition to other key information. In light of YouTube's recent announcement that it will be changing its content moderation policies on June 18, 2024 to further censor content relating to firearms and other constitutionally protected Second Amendment activity, we write to remind Alphabet that the subpoena's obligation is 'continuing in nature' and to request that you produce documents relating to this new policy change.
"The Committee's and Select Subcommittee's oversight has shown how the federal government has coerced or colluded with technology, social media, and other companies, including Alphabet, to moderate content online. In particular, the Committee obtained documents showing how the federal government has pressured Alphabet to censor certain content, including content that did not violate YouTube's content moderation policies.
"Recent reporting and other publicly available information suggests that YouTube's decision to change its firearms policy may have been influenced by government officials and third parties interested in suppressing certain Second Amendment-related content. For example, on April 24, 2024, New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who hired the third highest-ranking Department of Justice official to assist in his partisan prosecution of President Trump, wrote a letter to YouTube, demanding that the platform revise its content moderation policies to further censor firearms-related content. Following YouTube's announcement, Bragg's office issued a press release applauding the new firearms content policy change, suggesting that it was '[i]n response' to Bragg's demands. Given that YouTube has censored First Amendment-protected speech as a result of government agencies’ requests and demands in the past, these revelations raise serious concerns about whether and to what extent the Executive Branch is working with third parties and other intermediaries to coerce and/or collude with YouTube to censor lawful speech regarding the Second Amendment and firearms.
"The Committee's subpoena compels Alphabet to produce communications between Alphabet and other entities discussing content moderation, which includes communications and records involving, referring, or relating to Alphabet's interactions with the Executive Branch and other entities regarding changes to its firearms content policy. We write to inform you that documents concerning Alphabet's interactions with the Executive Branch and third parties that may have been working with the Executive Branch relating to YouTube's new firearms policy are responsive to the Committee's subpoena. We ask that you take all appropriate steps to identify and produce these responsive documents expeditiously, and we remind you that the Committee's subpoena imposes a legal obligation that is 'continuing in nature.'"
Read the full letter to Alphabet here.
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