FTC's consumer bureau moves to sue YouTube over alleged deceptive censorship

The Federal Trade Commission, with Andrew Ferguson as chair, has tasked its Consumer Protection Bureau—led by Chris Mufarrige—with building a potential lawsuit against Google’s YouTube. Sources familiar with the confidential investigation say the FTC is assessing whether YouTube’s account suspensions and content demotions breach consumer-protection statutes by misleading users about what they can post. The review focuses on specific instances where accounts were terminated without clear policy violations, and it has already attracted about 3,000 complaints about uneven moderation.

High-profile cases, including the suspension of Donald Trump’s channel after the January 6 events, are cited as examples of the alleged overreach. The FTC is soliciting public input from victims of bans, demonetization, or shadow-banning, as well as from platform employees. Chairman Ferguson emphasized that tech firms must adhere to their own rules and that deceptive censorship could constitute illegal conduct.