The House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has issued subpoenas to the CEOs of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, requesting information on their content moderation methods. The panel has asked for communications between the tech companies and the federal government’s executive branch related to content censorship. The requests include details about people responsible for shaping moderation policies and those who’ve talked to the executive branch. Jordan, who has long maintained that major tech companies censor conservative views, wants to know “how and to what extent” the federal government allegedly pressured and coordinated with companies to censor content.
The subpoena does not include Twitter, which some Republican politicians see as more supportive of right-wing views. Twitter recently reinstated Donald Trump’s account, which is still inactive and has been sharing internal “Twitter Files” that cover the company’s sharing limits on a New York Post story on Hunter Biden, as well as the decision to ban Trump following the January 6th, 2021 attack on the Capitol. The tech companies have repeatedly denied allegations of bias and insist that they’re only trying to remove falsehoods and other harmful material.
It is unclear if the House panel can take action against the tech companies. Multiple studies have shown no evidence of anti-conservative bias, and there is evidence that platforms like Facebook made exemptions for right-wing content that violated misinformation policies, fearing a backlash if they enforced their rules consistently. The CEOs have until March 23rd to provide the requested information.
