Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube and Google, sent a revealing letter on its free speech policies to the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday, detailing the Biden administration’s pressure, as well as future threats to free expression from foreign regulators.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, released the letter from Alphabet’s counsel, in which the company pledges to “keep the digital ecosystem safe, reliable, and open to free expression.”
The letter declares that during the COVID-19 pandemic the Biden administration put Alphabet under pressure to combat narratives contrary to the administration’s positions.
“Senior Biden Administration officials, including White House officials, conducted repeated and sustained outreach … and pressed the Company regarding certain user-generated content related to the COVID-19 pandemic that did not violate its policies,” Alphabet reveals in the letter.
The letter frames this government pressure as having created a difficult situation, saying that it “grappled with these decisions” over government-encouraged moderation.
“It is unacceptable and wrong when any government, including the Biden administration, attempts to dictate how the Company moderates content, and the Company has consistently fought against those efforts on First Amendment grounds.”
The letter also contains a pledge to restore YouTube access to content creators who were previously deplatformed for commenting on COVID-19 and questioning election integrity.
“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if the Company terminated their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect,” reads the letter, which notes that its policy on the moderation of these topics has changed over time.
Alphabet also explicitly promises to protect conservative speech.
“YouTube values conservative voices and recognizes that these creators have extensive reach and play an important role in civic discourse,” reads the missive, which refers to conservative creators as “among those shaping today’s online consumption, landing ‘must-watch’ interviews, giving viewers the chance to hear directly from politicians, celebrities, business leaders, and more.”
But this defense of Alphabet’s speech policies also contains a stern warning of future censorship by governments around the world.
“Governments and law enforcement entities make legal requests in an effort to moderate content according to their views, and their demands come with significant penalties for non-compliance,” Alphabet admits. “Alphabet has a track record of pushing back against overly broad or otherwise inappropriate government demands for user data and content removals.”
Additionally, Alphabet applauds the committee for looking into two European Union regulatory frameworks, which it warns could become overbearing.
“The Committee has taken important investigative steps to highlight that onerous obligations under laws such as the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act may stifle innovation and restrict access to information,” it says, referencing the controversial European regulations.
Alphabet pays particular attention to the Digital Services Act, which requires social media platforms to combat “harmful content.”
“These laws place a disproportionate regulatory burden on American companies, and the Company has long expressed its concern about the risk that the [Digital Services Act] may pose to freedom of expression within and outside of the European Union,” it says. “Alphabet remains mindful of these risks and continues to be vigilant in its defense of these rights.”
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