YouTube welcomes back banned creators — says it 'values conservative voices'

YouTube announced yesterday that it would allow permanently banned accounts to apply for reinstatement of their channels. According to a letter from Daniel Donovan, a lawyer for Alphabet (Google's parent company), to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, this new policy will give channels that were previously taken down for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and the 2020 election the chance to get their platforms back.

"Today, YouTube's Community Guidelines allow for a wider range of content regarding COVID-19 and elections integrity," the letter reads. "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if the Company terminated their channels for repeated violations of COVID-19 and elections integrity policies that are no longer in effect."

The letter also says, "No matter the political atmosphere, YouTube will continue to enable free expression on its platform, particularly as it relates to issues subject to political debate. Political debate and discussion are in the public's interest, which is why YouTube expanded its approach to educational, documentary, scientific, and artistic content on the platform."

YouTube shared a post on X Tuesday addressing the concerns that people have regarding this policy reversal. "We've had a lot of questions about a pathway back to YouTube for some terminated creators to set up a new channel," reads the post, which also teases the imminent launch of the reinstatement program. "This will be a limited pilot project that will be available to a subset of creators in addition to those channels terminated for policies that have been deprecated."

According to CNBC, among the channels that were taken down for violating the platform's policy combatting the spread of misinformation — and which now may apply to be reinstated — are some tied to Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Toward the end of the letter from Alphabet, Donovan writes, "YouTube values conservative voices on its platform and recognizes that these creators have extensive reach and play an important role in civic discourse. The Company recognizes these creators are 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."