FTC Said to Be Winding Down Probe Into YouTube’s Account Suspensions, Content Policies — GOOGL in Focus

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is said to be in the final stages of an investigation into whether Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube ran afoul of consumer protection laws by suspending users’ accounts and enforcing content policies that some users say were not clear upfront.

Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the agency has been looking into YouTube since last year and is preparing for a potential lawsuit. The exact path remains open: YouTube could settle with the FTC or fight the case in court if the agency files a complaint.

Shares of GOOGL moved little in after-hours trading Thursday, up about 0.01% after closing 0.4% lower in the regular session. The stock has still gained roughly 9.4% year-to-date.

At the center of the probe is whether YouTube’s own policies were followed when channels were banned or demoted. Regulators are also examining whether users were effectively misled into signing up for the service under the impression that certain content was allowed, only to have it stripped out later or to have their accounts suspended, according to Bloomberg.

The investigation comes against the backdrop of a politically charged debate over social media moderation. YouTube suspended former President Donald Trump’s account after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and reinstated it in 2023. The platform also removed vaccine- and COVID-19-related content that it deemed to violate misinformation rules.

FTC spokesman Joe Simonson pushed back on the Bloomberg report, saying that “leaks will never stop or slow a single law-enforcement investigation or litigation at the FTC” and that such leaks would be referred to authorities for investigation.

FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, a Republican commissioner, has previously signaled interest in cases involving social media content policies. Since the end of the Biden administration, he has argued for investigating whether major platforms violated their stated policies and potentially coordinated to censor certain political speech.

“The biggest platforms banned dissent on the origins of COVID-19, mask mandates, the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, transgenderism, and the integrity of the 2020 election,” Ferguson wrote at the time, according to Bloomberg.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for GOOGL was “bearish” as of Thursday evening, unchanged over the past 24 hours. Message volume rose to “normal” from “low” over the same period.

This article was originally published on StockTwits.