Rand Paul: I’ve changed my mind — Google and YouTube can’t be trusted to do the right thing and must be reined in
By Rand Paul
Published Jan. 19, 2026, 8:25 p.m. ET
Youtube and its parent company Google deserves to be sued.
For the past three weeks YouTube has been hosting a video that is a calculated lie, falsely accusing me of taking money from Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. It refused to remove the video.
It is, of course, a ludicrous accusation, but paid trolls are daily spreading this lie across the internet. This untruth is essentially an accusation of treason, which then leads the internet mob to call for my death.
Advocating for liability for Google is no small step for me. I have long defended the private-property rights of internet companies and long defended them against overzealous, partisan abuses of antitrust law, even when I was angry with YouTube for its policies that silenced my attempts to educate the public on the potentially deadly consequences of relying on cloth masks to prevent transmission of COVID-19.
But I will not sit idly by and let them host a provably false defamatory video, which is now part of a widespread harassment campaign. I am now receiving death threats.
The arrogance of Google to continue hosting this defamatory video and the resultant threats on my life have caused me to rethink Congress’ blind allegiance to liability shields.
more
https://nypost.com/2026/01/19/opinion/rand-paul-ive-changed-my-mind-google-and-youtube-cant-be-trusted-to-do-the-right-thing-and-must-be-reined-in/
