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Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley lauded Google’s decision to allow banned YouTube accounts to be reinstated this week after the company admitted it had censored COVID-19 content under pressure from the Biden administration.
“This is a huge development for the free speech community,” Turley said Wednesday on “America’s Newsroom.”
“We need these companies, particularly in fending off the EU [European Union], which is being very aggressive in this anti-free speech campaign.”
The Fox News contributor’s remarks came after referencing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s push for Europeans to push the since-passed Digital Services Act across the finish line in 2022, right after former DOGE leader Elon Musk purchased Twitter.
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The act is an EU policy that regulates online platforms such as social networks, content-sharing platforms and app stores, and is intended to “prevent illegal and harmful activities online and the spread of disinformation.”
The law has since faced opposition from the Trump administration amid its free speech promotion on the global stage.
Turley’s comments also come after Google announced Tuesday an offer of reinstatement to YouTube accounts that were banned for political speech.
Fox News Digital obtained a document authored by a lawyer representing Google that was sent to the House Judiciary Committee detailing the shift that could affect both average users and more high-profile figures like FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka and “War Room” podcast host Steve Bannon, all of whom were permanently banned in recent years for COVID-19 or election-related content.
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The document also contained a section about the Biden administration, saying then-White House officials pushed Google behind the scenes to remove alleged misinformation regarding COVID-19.
Google’s lawyer also said the platform censored content separately from the Biden administration’s requirements based on internal policies that the company has since rolled back.
A spokesperson for the company told Fox News Digital it did not have anything more to add besides what was in the document.
The development echoes language from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who previously accused the former administration of pressuring the social media giant to crack down on some COVID-19 content.
“[This censorship] came at a great cost, not just free speech cost, but, in COVID, we never had the debate that other countries had,” Turley said.
“Many of our allies did not shut down their schools, and they have not experienced the psychological and developmental problems that we have experienced, and that’s because, at platforms like Google and YouTube and Facebook, these scientists were barred. They were banned. They were blacklisted.”
Turley added that Elon Musk, who purchased X, then known as Twitter, with a vow to champion free speech, deserves credit, adding that other outlets are now shying away from censorship.
Fox News’ Ashley Oliver and Emma Colton contributed to this report.
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