Unpacking claims Google admitted to censorship on YouTube under Biden administration

In late September 2025, a rumor spread that Google had admitted to censoring content on YouTube at the behest of the administration of Democratic former U.S. President Joe Biden.

Several posts on X shared the claim, adding the same screen capture of a document that read “Google Admits Censorship Under Biden; Promises to End Bans of YouTube Accounts of Thousands of Americans Censored for Political Speech.” They amassed millions of views combined.

Many Snopes readers searched the site seeking information about whether the claim was true. 

The text on the screen capture read, in full:

Google Admits Censorship Under Biden; Promises to End Bans of YouTube Accounts of Thousands of Americans Censored for Political Speech

September 23, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, thanks to the oversight of Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Google commits to offer all creators previously kicked off YouTube due to political speech violations on topics such as COVID-19 and elections an opportunity to return to the platform.

Google also admitted the following to the House Judiciary Committee:

1. The Biden Administration pressured Google to censor Americans and remove content that did not violate YouTube’s policies.
2. The Biden Administration censorship pressure was “unacceptable and wrong.”
3. Public debate should never come at the expense of relying “authorities.”
4. The company will never use third-party “fact-checkers.”
5. Europe’s censorship laws target American companies and threaten American speech, including the removal of “lawful content.”

These major admissions come after Chairman Jordan’s subpoena to Google and a years long investigation into the company. 

The screen capture was of a statement by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican. The committee released it on Sept. 23, 2025. 

The statement also linked to a letter to Jordan from Daniel Donovan, counsel at King & Spalding, a lawyer for Alphabet, Google’s and YouTube’s parent company. 

A review of this letter revealed that the truth was more complicated than the title of the statement let on. Snopes also contacted King & Spalding for Alphabet’s response to the Judiciary Committee’s assertion and we will update this report should they respond. 

What the letter actually says

Alphabet’s lawyer’s letter said the company had received pressure from the Biden administration to remove content on YouTube regarding the COVID-19 pandemic that “did not violate its policies.” On Page 2, the letter read: 

Senior Biden Administration officials, including White House officials, conducted repeated and sustained outreach to Alphabet and pressed the Company regarding certain user-generated content related to the COVID-19 pandemic that did not violate its policies. While the Company continued to develop and enforce its policies independently, Biden Administration officials continued to press the Company to remove non-violative user-generated content.

However, the letter also said YouTube had made its own decisions on content “about how best to balance freedom of expression with responsibility, including responsibility with respect to the moderation of user-generated content that could result in real-world harm.”  

Further, the company also said it had fought pressure to remove content “on First Amendment grounds:”

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.

In other words, while the company said the pressure from the Biden administration was “unacceptable and wrong,” it did not admit to censoring political speech on YouTube at the Biden administration’s request.

In addition, the letter said YouTube had terminated accounts that had repeatedly broken its previous policies, both on election integrity and COVID-19. Given that its rules had changed to include more types of content, it said YouTube would now reinstate those accounts. The letter did not say those policies were in place due to political pressure from the Biden administration. Page 4 reads:

The Company terminated channels for repeatedly violating its Community Guidelines on elections integrity content through 2023 and COVID-19 content through 2024. Today, YouTube’s Community Guidelines allow for a wider range of content regarding COVID-19 and elections integrity. 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.

In sum, according to the letter, YouTube enforced its own policies, not ones dictated by the Biden administration.