Robert F. Kennedy Jr sues Google, YouTube for alleging censorship

NEW YORK: Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr is suing YouTube and its parent company, Google, for moderating content he posts online, reported German news agency (dpa).

The 69-year-old lawyer filed the suit against the internet giants in a Delaware court late Wednesday. His lawsuit claims his freedom of speech has been violated and alleges the US has taken "extraordinary steps under the leadership of Joe Biden to silence people it doesn't want America to hear".

Kennedy is a long-shot challenger to Biden for the Democratic party nomination in the 2024 presidential race. While he has proven popular with conspiratorial online media sources and right-wing outlets like Fox News, Kennedy has struggled to gain favour with Democrats and even earned admonishment from his famous political family. A recent poll shows him trailing Biden by as much as 60 points.

The son of assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy, Kennedy Jr is a critic of vaccines, including those used to curb the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than a million Americans since 2020.

His complaint claims YouTube frequently blocks content posted by him on the grounds of "medical misinformation" policies.

"On information and belief, it did so based on statements from the Biden administration about what information to censor," Kennedy's complaint alleges.

Kennedy's legal team complains content taken offline sometimes comes from their client's 2024 presidential campaign and worries the problem will worsen as primary elections draw nearer.

Among Kennedy's many controversies was a dinner last month where he made claims about COVID-19 some critics found anti-semitic.

"COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people," he asserted. "The races that are most immune to COVID-19 are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese."

Kennedy later tweeted his comments were being taken out of context and he never implied "the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered".

His lawsuit was filed in Delaware where Google and YouTube are incorporated. Kennedy resides in New York. The defendants are headquartered in California.

Google purchased the popular video-sharing website in 2006. A spokesperson for the company told the Daily News that the Team Kennedy YouTube channel has over 46,000 subscribers and over one million views across its videos, which are held to the same standard as those of other platform users.

"YouTube applies its Community Guidelines independently, transparently, and consistently, regardless of political viewpoint," the spokesperson said.

"These claims are meritless and we look forward to refuting them."

-- BERNAMA