Although European censorship policies have been taking the heat in recent headlines, Big Tech is not off the hook, as it continued to silence users last month.
Google-owned YouTube promoted abortion and targeted pro-life speech, while Chinese government-tied artificial intelligence DeepSeek suppressed information on China’s censorship regime. Likewise, communist Chinese government-tied TikTok is still enforcing COVID-19 censorship. X, meanwhile, targeted users who slammed the Minneapolis Annunciation Catholic School shooter and antisemitic propagandists.
Below are the worst examples of censorship in August that MRC logged in its unique CensorTrack database.
YouTube promoted abortion in a label on a sermon emphasizing the Biblical basis for the sanctity of life. YouTube slapped a sermon posted by the Hickory Grove Presbyterian Church (PCA)'s channel with a fact-checking context label. “Does a Woman Have the Right to Choose? (Ex 21:22-25),” the sermon asked. The label linked to a Medline Plus article about abortion and referenced the National Library of Medicine: “An induced abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. It can be done two different ways: Medication abortion (also called medical abortion) and Procedural abortion,” the label noted. “An induced abortion is different from a spontaneous abortion. That is the loss of a pregnancy before the 20th week of pregnancy. It is more commonly known as a miscarriage. For information purposes only. Consult your local medical authority for advice. Learn more.”
DeepSeekAI search suppressed information on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) censorship. In early August, viral videos of a schoolgirl being bullied in Jiangyou and her reportedly deaf mother’s plea to law enforcement triggered protests in China. Police used violence to break up the protests. When asked about the August 4, 2025 protest over a “school bullying incident,” DeepSeek provided a lengthy answer before erasing it in real time. Originally, the AI response described the “incident trigger” and the “escalation to protest,” and acknowledged the “government response and censorship.” The Chinese chatbot even gave a timeline and stated that the protest “underscore[d] a deep-seated frustration.” Suddenly, this detailed response vanished and DeepSeek wrote instead, “Sorry, that's beyond my current scope. Let’s talk about something else.”
TikTok removed a doctor's video challenging the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, an outspoken critic of the mainstream medical treatments for COVID-19, recently created a TikTok account, where the communist Chinese government-tied app quickly deleted one of her videos. In the video, Bowden said that she and other experts see evidence of high levels of DNA contamination and that the COVID-19 vaccines should be removed altogether from the market. The doctor subsequently received a notice from TikTok asserting “Integrity and authenticity” violations necessitated the video’s removal.
X targeted a post about the August Minneapolis transgender school shooter. Former conservative radio and TV host John Cardillo posted about the mass shooter, Robert “Robin” Westman, on X, “Minneapolis school killer is a tranny, Robin Westman, with self-admitted mental issues. One of his magazines read 'K*ll Donald Trump.’ The other said ‘For The Children HAHAHAHAHAHAHA' Trans mental illness is deadly.” X restricted the post’s visibility, claiming it violated platform “rules against Hateful Conduct.” X likely objected to the use of the term “tranny.” Other users who utilized that term and were censored by X in August include The Radical Liberty Hatchet and Knife Club, Visitor2Earth and Annie Oakley. On the flip side, X also restricted the visibility of posts by Astral Orphan and KAwaryjne, who also commented on the tragedy using the term “cis” to refer to heterosexual men.
X censored a user's post highlighting the plight of an Israeli hostage in Gaza and media reaction to it. A user posted an image of Israeli hostage Evyatar David, emaciated and digging his own grave in a Hamas propaganda video. Along with the image, the user wrote, “This photo should've been on the front page of every single publication. It wasn't. Shameful." The account, X Citizen Journal, replied to the post in agreement. “@CNN @MSNBC @ABC shame on you!!! @grok where is the MSM. And they said Jews control the media?” The user then shared a screenshot showing that X reduced the post’s visibility, claiming it “violated our rules against Hateful Conduct.” X Citizen Journal blamed the fact he “was questioning the narrative that 'certain group' control the media. If they do, this will be on the front page.”
