House Judiciary Chairman Subpoenas Big Tech Executives For Company Communications With Executive Branch
CNN
House Republicans subpoenaed the CEOs of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft for information about their companies' communications with the executive and how they moderate their content.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan's decision is a significant escalation of House GOP efforts to get Big Tech to work with the federal government to silence conservative voices. During a hearing last week with three former Twitter executives, the House Oversight Committee did not provide conclusive evidence that Twitter temporarily removed the New York Post story at the request of government agencies, and former leaders said the government had no role in the decision. . . .
Subpoenas sent by Jordan on Wednesday, augmenting requests Jordan made in December when House Republicans were in the minority, ask that all required documents and correspondence be turned over by March 23, 2023.
"To develop effective legislation such as b. putting new legal limits on the executive's ability to work with big tech companies, limiting content distribution, and removing the platform from users, the Judiciary Committee must first understand how and to what extent the executive branch can plug in Branch Jordan He coerced and worked with corporations and other intermediaries to censor speech,” Jordan wrote.
In the December speech, Jordan said, "Big tech companies are eager to engage with conservatives and increasingly willing to undermine First Amendment values by conforming to Biden administration policies that eliminate the freedom of expression online."
Jordan wrote to top tech executives on Wednesday that he would not call Twitter, which “recently set the standard for transparency in oversight of big tech companies in their interactions with government,” in an internal communications message. called Twitter. case
A Microsoft spokesperson told CNN in a statement that the company is preparing the documents, "is cooperating with the committee and is committed to acting in good faith." Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company had already started and would continue to provide documents in response to UNHCR requests.
CNN has also reached out to Amazon, Apple and Alphabet to comment on the calls.
To assuage criticism from House Republicans of the alleged settlement agreement between Twitter and the federal government, Democratic representatives revealed that the Trump White House had asked Twitter to delete the tweets. Testimony last week from former Twitter employee Anika Collier Navaroli, who told the panel she heard the White House incriminate then-President Donald Trump in 2019 over a tweet aimed at bringing down model and television personality Chrissy Teigen.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
