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FIRST ON FOX: The Biden administration worked with employees of Google-owned YouTube in 2021 to target so-called “misinformation” related to the COVID-19 virus and its vaccinations, according to documents obtained by FOX Business.
The documents, acquired through a source close to the House Judiciary Committee, reveal a level of correspondence previously unknown to the American public, as President Biden and his aides sought to promote coronavirus vaccination in the aim of calming the raging pandemic.
The campaign was led by the former White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty, who has since left the administration to help run Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign as deputy campaign manager.
Flaherty sent an email to Google team members in April 2021 to “connect (…) to the work that you are doing to combat vaccine hesitancy, but also to combat misinformation about vaccines ”, according to the documents.
Flaherty went on to ask for trends regarding vaccine misinformation on the website, while offering government assistance in the form of COVID experts in the White House to partner on product work with YouTube.
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Google, in an internal email, noted that after a subsequent meeting with Flaherty, the White House staffer “took a particular look at our decision-making around borderline content” – that is – i.e. content that does not go against the community guidelines but rather skims over them. according to YouTube.
A week later, Google recognized that he sent the White House the total number of videos removed for misinformation about the COVID vaccine, while discussing the government’s desire for even more data.
“Really (Flaherty) cares about what we see that is NOT going to happen,” read an internal Google email between employees, apparently referring to videos that had not yet been removed.
The next day, YouTube’s government affairs team emailed YouTube’s product team to report the interactions with the White House.
The logos of Google and Google-owned video streaming service YouTube are seen in front of Google’s Silicon Valley headquarters in Mountain View, California, April 14, 2018. (Collection Smith/Gado/Getty Images / Getty Images)
“…there is now very high interest from the White House regarding vaccine misinformation/hesitancy and our work around borderline content,” the report said. internal email from YouTube read.
“Unfortunately, the role of technology in combating vaccine hesitancy is poised to come under increased scrutiny, especially as vaccine supply will soon outstrip demand,” added the April 2021 correspondence.
Next, the Government Affairs team asked if the Product team could notify the White House on the work of YouTube to reduce borderline content.
“We were hoping to get something on the books in the next couple of weeks to prevent anything from getting out of hand,” the email said, emphasizing the urgency of the situation.
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A week later, an update was presented, with YouTube’s government affairs team writing to the product team to inform them of discussions between YouTube and the White House.
President Biden speaks about his domestic agenda from the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, October 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh / AP Newsroom)
“Over the past few weeks, the Google and YT GAAP team have had conversations with White House staff about YouTube’s policies and all the great work that is being done to gather authoritative information and combat misinformation harmful linked to Misinformation about COVID-19” the email said.
The government affairs team then asked if the YouTube product team could meet directly with White House staff to highlight their efforts, because “(White House) staff continue to have questions about the increase /reduction of efforts”, linked to alleged misinformation.
The email continued, imploring the Product team to meet with the White House as it could be beneficial for a future working relationship.
“…we believe that having the opportunity for the two of you to share more context would be extremely beneficial as we seek to work closely with this administration on several policy fronts,” said the Government Affairs the team wrote.
Rep. Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, speaks at a hearing in Washington, DC, July 12. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The revelations of the documents between the White House and Google come about a year after the Original Twitter files were released, sparking a national debate over free speech online.
Speaking about interactions between YouTube and the Biden administration, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told FOX Business: “We knew the Biden White House was working to censor American discourse with the help of Great technology. Internal Google documents obtained by the Judiciary Committee and the Special Subcommittee show that their project expanded to YouTube. »
“The commissions will continue their critical investigative work to protect Americans’ First Amendment rights and end the government’s vast enterprise of censorship,” he added.
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Two of the journalists involved in the Twitter Files publication, Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger, are expected to appear in court on Thursday Jordan Special Subcommittee on the militarization of the federal government on Capitol Hill.
The hearing will “examine the involvement of the federal government in social media censorship, as well as recent attacks on independent journalism and free speech”, a year after the original Twitter files.
In a statement, a YouTube spokesperson told FOX Business of the judiciary committee’s findings: “While we receive feedback from governments around the world, we enforce our policies independently, transparently and consistently, regardless of the speaker or the political opinions expressed.”
The White House could not be reached by FOX Business for comment.
