Sitting down for a current interview on Semafor’s Mixed Signals podcast, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan stood by the platform’s controversial suppression of COVID-era content material it labeled “well being misinformation,” providing no apologies and sidestepping questions on whether or not these selections have been finally misguided. He additionally declined to say whether or not movies of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (now the Secretary of Health and Human Services) that had been taken down through the pandemic can be reinstated.
Despite repeatedly and laughably positioning YouTube as a platform without cost expression, Mohan continued to defend the imposition of broad speech restrictions. “YouTube is a spot the place you’ll be able to go and share [your ideas] with out anyone telling you that you just don’t sound the best method… otherwise you’re saying the improper factor,” he stated, whereas additionally justifying the takedown of huge volumes of content material that contradicted official narratives.
At the peak of the pandemic, YouTube aggressively enforced insurance policies in opposition to what it categorised as “misinformation.” Mohan cited the uncertainty of early 2020 as justification. “What was taking place on this planet in March of 2020 could be very completely different than what’s taking place on this planet in March of 2025,” he stated.
When requested whether or not YouTube would contemplate restoring RFK Jr. movies that have been eliminated below these insurance policies, Mohan gave no dedication. “I can’t converse to the particular movies,” he stated, although he famous that YouTube has now “deprecated” most of its COVID-19 moderation guidelines—successfully admitting they’re not deemed obligatory.
Pressed additional on whether or not the platform might have contributed to a backlash in opposition to public well being efforts by suppressing open dialogue, Mohan averted a direct reply. “Context actually mattered,” he stated, attributing YouTube’s actions to the tempo at which scientific data was altering on the time. He stopped wanting addressing the rising proof that censorship might have broken public belief or stifled respectable dissent.
Later within the interview, Mohan responded to a separate controversy involving faith-based programming. Christian media firm Great American Media lately filed a criticism with the FCC, accusing YouTube TV of discriminating in opposition to its content material by refusing to hold its cable networks. Mohan denied any ideological bias and stated the dispute was being dealt with as a enterprise matter.
“We base these selections… on enterprise concerns by way of viewers and viewers demand,” he stated, describing ongoing talks with the community as “productive.”
Although the broadcaster’s foremost YouTube channel has amassed greater than 100,000 subscribers and hundreds of thousands of views, it stays excluded from YouTube TV’s lineup—elevating additional questions on how the corporate balances company discretion with its public claims of neutrality.
Throughout the dialog, Mohan offered a model of YouTube that concurrently promotes “freedom of expression” whereas justifying its lengthy historical past of eradicating dissenting voices — an strategy that continues to gas skepticism amongst critics of on-line censorship.
