House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has subpoenaed the leaders of the nation’s five largest tech companies, demanding the companies turn over documents and other information, part of a broader effort by the GOP to scrutinize ties between the Biden administration and Big Tech and investigate allegations of anti-conservative censorship.
“Congress has an important role in protecting and advancing fundamental free speech principles, including by examining how private actors coordinate with the government to suppress First Amendment-protected speech,” Jordan’s office said in a statement. “These subpoenas are the first step in holding Big Tech accountable.”
The subpoenas were sent to Meta Platforms’ Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Apple’s Tim Cook, Amazon’s Andy Jassy and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella.
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Missing from the request was Twitter’s Elon Musk, who is widely viewed as a conservative ally.
“We have already begun producing documents in response to the committee’s requests and will continue to do so moving forward,” Facebook said in a statement.
Microsoft issued a similar statement. “We have started producing documents, are engaged with the Committee, and committed to working in good faith,” the company said.
Republicans have complained for years that tech companies have suppressed conservative views and voices or limited their reach on mainstream social media platforms to sway voters or tip an election in one party’s favor.
Tech companies deny any partisanship, saying their policies strike a balance between users’ rights to freely express themselves and keeping hate, abuse and misinformation off their platforms
The subpoenas are seeking information on efforts by the Biden administration to influence how these companies moderate their content.
Jordan asked for these documents last year before the GOP was in charge of the House.
“The House Judiciary Committee has repeatedly attempted to engage with the five companies since last December. Unfortunately, the companies have not adequately complied with our requests,” Jordan said in the statement.
He also chairs the new House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
Story Credit: usatoday.com