Kennedy, who's campaigning against President Joe Biden for the Democratic party nomination said in a 27-page complaint that the sites caved to pressure from the Biden administration, and that his videos about Covid vaccines were being censored through "overt and covert" means.

"Under these circumstances, YouTube is a state actor and it violated Mr Kennedy's First Amendment rights by engaging in viewpoint discrimination," reads the filing. "This complaint concerns the freedom of speech and the extraordinary steps the United States government has taken under the leadership of Joe Biden to silence people it does not want Americans to hear."

The lawsuit points to several instances of the sites removing Kennedy's speeches and interviews, including one with Joe Rogan, and a March speech he gave to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.