Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Watchdog group pushes Google, YouTube parent company for government censorship requests

Watchdog group pushes Google, YouTube parent company for government censorship requests

National Legal and Policy Center files shareholder resolution calling on Alphabet Inc. to disclose requests from federal entities to take down information

An ethics watchdog is using shareholder activism to try to pry information about whether the Biden administration has been essentially outsourcing censorship to Google and YouTube.

"We have filed a proposal for consideration by the shareholders to require Alphabet to produce a report showing if anyone from the government asked them to remove content," Peter Flaherty, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, told FOX Business.

Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, Oct. 28, 2021.


In January, the National Legal and Policy Center filed a shareholder resolution calling on Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google and YouTube, to disclose requests from the White House, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other federal agencies or entities about taking down information.

The NLPC holds shares in Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube. Flaherty said he expects Alphabet will ask the Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to omit the resolution from consideration by its shareholders. He said it’s clearly in the public interest to know if "the government is compelling censorship" on two of the most widely used venues on the Internet.


Last July, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the administration is trying to fight misinformation about COVID-19 online.

"We are in regular touch with these social media platforms, and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff, but also members of our COVID-19 team, given, as Dr. [Vivek] Murthy conveyed, this is a big issue of misinformation, specifically on the pandemic," Psaki told reporters at the time.

Joe Rogan 


This month, Psaki, when taking a question about the popular podcast host Joe Rogan, pressed Spotify and tech companies to do more to combat "misinformation" about COVID-19.

The chances of success for shareholder resolutions are often slim, but the matter can stir public pressure for a corporation. However, left-leaning groups have successfully used such resolutions to force such matters as carbon disclosure and board diversity.

"The shareholders request that Alphabet Inc. … provide a report, published on the company’s website and updated semi-annually – and omitting proprietary information and at reasonable cost – that specifies the company’s policy in responding to requests to remove or take down material from its platforms by the Executive Office of the President, Centers for Disease Control, or any other agency or entity of the United States Government," the NLPC’s shareholder’s resolution says.

The resolution continues: "Shareholders need to know whether the company is cooperating with government officials engaged in unconstitutional censorship, opening the company to liability claims by victims. Shareholders also need to know whether the company is failing to disclose these potential liabilities as material risks in its public filings."

YouTube app and YouTube Kids app are displayed on an iPhone in New York.


Alphabet did not respond to numerous inquiries for this story.

The NLPC resolution cites a Supreme Court 1963 ruling in the case of Bantam Books, Inc. vs. Sullivan "that private entities may not engage in suppression of speech at the behest of government, as it has the same effect as direct government censorship." The case was about a state law in Rhode Island that empowered a commission to advise publishers and distributors of books about the material it deemed unsuitable for young readers. Book distributors removed books from circulation rather than face sanctions.

Though not mentioned in the resolution, the 1999 Supreme Court ruling in Hanlon v. Berger has been cited as a relevant case on media and government entanglement regarding private actors. The question before the court was whether federal agents could violate the Fourth Amendment prohibition of unreasonable search and seizure by allowing the news media to accompany and observe the execution of a search warrant. The justices ruled "police violate the Fourth Amendment rights of homeowners when they allow members of the media to accompany them during the execution of a warrant in their home." CNN – whose crew was doing a ride-along with U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents – was still a defendant and settled the matter out of court in 2001.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
×