Judge Denies Kennedy's Request To Restore His Vaccine Videos On Youtube

On Wednesday, a U.S. District Judge denied a request by Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for a temporary restraining order to prevent Google, owned by  Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG, from removing his videos from YouTube, citing the platform’s medical misinformation policies.

What Happened: As reported by The Hill, U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson expressed her belief that Kennedy’s suit against Google and its subsidiary YouTube would not succeed. In her ruling, Thompson emphasized that these companies are private entities, not state actors, and therefore not obliged to preserve Kennedy’s free speech rights.

The lawsuit followed YouTube’s removal of Kennedy’s vaccine-related videos in accordance with its policies on COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation. Kennedy, known for his criticism of vaccines, did not personally upload the videos in question.

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Judge Thompson, an appointee of President Joe Biden, found no evidence of significant government influence over Google that would classify the tech giant as a state actor. She also noted that Kennedy could not sufficiently prove “irreparable harm,” given his access to other platforms for sharing content.

Thompson concluded that the sought-after restraining order would not serve public interest, given the ongoing pandemic. Kennedy’s campaign has yet to comment on the ruling.

Why It Matters: Kennedy had previously sued Google and YouTube for alleged censorship and violation of First Amendment rights over the removal of his anti-vaccine content. His stance on vaccines has been a contentious issue, leading to criticism from the White House and even a ban from social media platforms.

Despite this, Kennedy has continued to voice his views, speaking out in an interview with Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces.

Photo by Ringo Chiu on Shutterstock

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