WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a letter to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki demanding documents and communications explaining each instance of YouTube’s censorship of him and requesting information on the development of YouTube’s COVID-19 misinformation policies.
At a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) hearing on September 14, 2022, Sen. Johnson pressed big tech executives on censorship of him and proceedings of the Committee, the silencing of conservative voices, the influence of misinformation surrounding elections, internal political bias at social media companies and their role in removing “COVID-19 disinformation.” The executives would not answer his questions.
“YouTube has displayed a troubling track record of censoring a sitting United States Senator, the proceedings of the United States Senate, journalists that interview me, and the display of data that is entirely generated from U.S. government health agencies,” the senator wrote.
Sen. Johnson outlined a timeline of YouTube’s censorship of him:
· January 2021: YouTube removes two videos of a December 8, 2020 HSGAC hearing that focused on early treatments of COVID-19;
· June 2021: YouTube removes an interview of Sen Johnson at the Milwaukee Press Club newsmaker luncheon and suspends his account for seven days;
· October 7, 2021: YouTube censors another HSGAC hearing, which focused on irregularities with the 2020 presidential election;
· October 22, 2021: YouTube censors and suspends a Wisconsin journalist for interviewing Sen. Johnson;
· November 12, 2021: YouTube suspends Sen. Johnson for a second time.
Read more about the letter in Fox News.
The full text of the letter can be found here.
