Jim Jordan demands answers from YouTube if Bragg has influence over changing firearms policy

Congressman Jim Jordan (Republican from Ohio) wants to know whether YouTube changed some of its content moderation policies regarding firearms under the influence of government officials, particularly New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg (Democrat).

Jordan, acting in his capacity as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and the Special Subcommittee on Armaments of the Federal Government, sent a letter Tuesday to legal counsel for YouTube’s parent company, Alphabet, requesting communications and documentation regarding the company’s “interactions with the executive branch and others regarding changes to its firearms content policy,” adding that the request would be in response to an already issued subpoena that is “continuing in nature.”

Earlier this month, the Google-owned platform announced it would impose age restrictions on “content showing the use of homemade firearms, automatic weapons and certain firearm accessories” and completely ban content “showing how to remove safety devices.”

“Recent reports and other publicly available information suggest that YouTube’s decision to change its firearms policy may have been influenced by government officials and third parties with an interest in suppressing certain Second Amendment content,” Jordan wrote in the letter, first shared with The Hill.

He specifically cited Bragg, who brought the case in which former President Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a secret payment of money in 2016, previously writing to YouTube to change its rules on moderating firearms content.

In April, Bragg sent a letter to YouTube expressing concern about YouTube videos instructing how to make “ghost guns” — firearms that are assembled by individuals and therefore do not have serial numbers. Bragg said the videos should be removed and disabled for uploading, and YouTube should also “stop recommending violent videos, including those featuring ghost guns, to children.”

After announcing the change to YouTube’s content moderation policies, Bragg praised the change and thanked the platform for its “quick response and willingness to work with our office,” and his office said in a statement that the policy change was in response to his request.

“Given that YouTube has censored speech protected by the First Amendment following requests and demands from government agencies in the past, these reports raise serious concerns about whether and to what extent the executive branch is colluding with third parties and other intermediaries to coerce and/or collude with YouTube to censor lawful speech about the Second Amendment and firearms,” Jordan said in the letter.

Jordan, as he also noted in his letter, Bragg “hired the third-highest-ranking Justice Department official to assist in his partisan prosecution of President Trump,” alleging ties between the state prosecutor and the federal executive branch.

Republicans have previously tried to link Bragg’s state-level prosecution of Trump to the Justice Department, which Attorney General Merrick Garland called a “conspiracy theory.”

Jordan said the document request would be part of a “continuing” subpoena already issued by Jordan’s panel in February 2023.

Jordan previously released documents obtained through that subpoena, which he called the “YouTube files,” which included communications between the White House and YouTube officials about content moderation and algorithm recommendation policies.

A YouTube spokesperson referred to an earlier statement in response to Jordan’s letter.

“These updates to our firearms policy are part of our ongoing efforts to maintain policies that reflect the current state of content on YouTube. For example, as 3D printing has become easier to use in recent years, we are expanding our restrictions on content related to homemade firearms. We regularly review our guidelines and consult with outside experts to ensure we are drawing the line in the right place,” the spokesperson said.

Updated at 15:46

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