Cruz launches investigation into Big Tech over algorithmic censorship
Christopher Hutton
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced he is launching an investigation into Big Tech’s content moderation practices to determine whether Silicon Valley giants have been censoring conservatives.
Cruz, the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, told Meta, Google, Twitter, and TikTok in letters Monday that he sought information on their algorithms and any use of “blacklists” or “de-emphasizing” and “reduced distribution” content. He said Monday that the effort is just the first of several investigations he plans.
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“Recommendation systems play an increasingly ubiquitous role in selecting content for individual consumption, including by promoting some content, using product design elements to prominently display recommendations, and downranking or filtering disfavored content and accounts,” Cruz wrote in the letters to the companies.
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Cruz told reporters in a Monday call that he intended to look into the relationship between Big Tech and federal agencies in future investigations in light of Elon Musk’s “Twitter Files.”
Twitter’s content moderation practices came into focus after the release of screenshots of internal interfaces confirming that the platform had tools it used to limit speech access and that the tags had been attached to conservative accounts.