YouTube Abandons Election Misinformation Policy That Censored Political Speech

YouTube will no longer remove content that promotes false claims about U.S. elections—a tacit admission that the platform's aggressive crackdown on misinformation about the 2020 presidential election had negative consequences for political expression.

The company announced the change on Friday.

"The ability to openly debate political ideas, even those that are controversial or based on disproven assumptions, is core to a functioning democratic society—especially in the midst of election season," wrote site administrators in a blog post.

This is a marked departure from the policy in place at YouTube for the last...