Republicans demand Twitter and Facebook provide government communications
Christopher Hutton
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House Republicans have called for Twitter and Meta to provide records of their communications with government officials to determine if the Biden administration pressured them to censor people.
Members of the House Oversight Committee sent letters to Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter owner Elon Musk demanding that they provide documents regarding communications between the social platforms and government officials. The request arrived after Musk released what he and his allies have dubbed the “Twitter Files,” a set of internal documents detailing communications between the two.
“The American people and their elected representatives must know the extent to which their government has engaged in prohibited censorship to expose and prevent this unlawful conduct. We request documents and communications from your company to assist our investigation and to uncover any unconstitutional actions by government officials or agents working on their behalf,” the letter said. The letter’s authors included Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and James Comer (R-KY).
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The letter notes communications between federal agencies and social platforms, including warnings issued by the FBI about foreign interference in the 2020 election. The letter alleged that officials and agencies had “conducted censorship campaigns.”
“The government, in concert with social media, should not tell Americans what they can and cannot say online. The Biden Administration’s penchant for censorship under the guise of suppressing ‘misinformation’ raises questions as to whether individuals within the Administration compelled companies such as Twitter and Facebook to censor Americans,” the letter added.
The letter arrives days after Musk’s “Twitter Files.” The series of internal communications revealed the company’s approach to banning former President Donald Trump from the platform and details about its content moderation. The communications discussed the use of “blacklist” tags on conservative accounts and included messages sent by the Trump administration and Biden campaign reporting content for takedown.
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