NEW YORK, NY—AUG. 14, 2023—A federal magistrate judge has set an emergency hearing on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request for a temporary restraining order barring Google from censoring his speech on YouTube during the 2024 campaign. Mr. Kennedy, a candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court Northern District of California against Google, LLC and its wholly owned subsidiary YouTube, LLC, last week.

The hearing will be held Wednesday, Aug. 16 at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT before Judge Nathanael Cousins in the federal courthouse located in San Jose, California.

Kennedy alleges that Google worked with the federal government to develop and enforce “misinformation” policies to censor the government’s political opponents, including Kennedy, who is running against President Biden in the Democratic primary. Such actions violate the First Amendment when, as here, they result from a public-private partnership that relies on government sources and when the private party, Google, shares the government’s censorship goals.

“We are grateful that Judge Cousins recognized the importance of this matter and set an early hearing on Mr. Kennedy’s request,” said Scott Street, the attorney leading the litigation. “Google will not suffer any harm from being ordered not to censor Mr. Kennedy during his campaign. But society will suffer if the censorship continues.”

YouTube has become an important platform for political discourse in America, a digital town square that voters trust as a place to get news and opinions about the issues of the day, a place where people can communicate about matters of public concern. Nonetheless, Google has censored countless Americans for views that run counter to the narratives of the U.S. government. Kennedy is just the most high-profile victim of this censorship campaign. This degree of censorship of a major presidential candidate is unprecedented in American history.

Similar cases have been filed across America, including a case brought by two state attorneys general that was argued in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals last week. Mr. Kennedy’s case is unique because, unlike the Fifth Circuit case, he seeks an order against Google itself, not government officials.

Learn more at Kennedy24.com. Visit our press page here.

# # #