The integrity of America’s democracy rests on the freedom of speech as enshrined in the First Amendment.
This is why House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) took swift action when it became apparent that Big Tech companies were colluding with the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation to censor content ahead of the 2020 election.
In early August, Mr. Jordan issued subpoenas to both agencies demanding they turn over documents related to their involvement in this censorship.
In his accompanying letters addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Mr. Jordan noted that he had obtained evidence suggesting these agencies were involved in stifling free expression on digital platforms.
He referred specifically to Twitter Files, which showed interactions between the FBI and X (formerly known as Twitter) regarding suppression of a New York Post report about Joe Biden and Hunter Biden’s business activities prior to election day.
It was also alleged that an FBI Special Agent made false statements under oath concerning their role in suppressing said story involving Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Furthermore, Mr. Jordan highlighted a court case – Missouri v Biden – where U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Biden administration suspend communication activities linked to censorship with social media companies pending resolution of the lawsuit on grounds that such communications likely violated Americans’ First Amendment rights.
Despite these revelations however, Mr. Jordan noted that when he requested records from both agencies pertaining to these matters, only one document had been provided.
This was completely inadequate given its lack of relevant material like internal exchanges or correspondences between DOJ and other entities within executive branch surrounding moderation or censorship content policies on digital platforms.
Jordan has given both agencies until September 15th provide all internal records regarding moderation, suppression or censorship content policies but even then it remains incumbent upon President Biden to take responsibility for any collusion between his administration tech giants.
