OPINION| Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg demanding documentation about content moderation practices on his new platform Threads.
This inquiry is part of an investigation into federal government involvement in censorship industries and follows years of reports alleging that tech giants and government operatives were working together to stifle conservative and independent voices. In many cases, this has resulted in false information being dispersed to the American public.
This comes on top of Jordan’s threat to hold Zuckerberg in contempt of congress for refusing to comply with their investigation into censorship at Meta.
NBC News Reported:
The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee said Tuesday that it plans to take up a resolution that would recommend a contempt of Congress citation for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg over what Republicans insist is the social media company’s refusal to comply with a wide-ranging investigation into allegations of censorship.
The panel is scheduled to consider the resolution Thursday, escalating its probe into claims the Biden administration has worked with tech executives to suppress conservative viewpoints.
A copy of the contempt report asserts that Zuckerberg and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, have “willfully refused” to comply in full with a congressional subpoena stemming from the panel’s investigation into any efforts by the executive branch to encourage social media companies to moderate content on digital platforms.
The report further alleges that Meta has “played a central role in this censorship scheme, frequently acquiescing and catering to the government’s censorship requests and demands.”
Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent subpoenas in February to Apple, Facebook and Google requesting information about content moderation.
Threads was intended to be a “Twitter killer” but has seen active users dwindle week after week since its launch. The letter from Chairman Jordan is meant to shed light on how content is moderated for accuracy on the new platform in order to ensure free speech without interference or bias.
It will also investigate if any federal agencies are involved with censorship of certain ideas or information regarding Threads specifically as well as other platforms across the internet.
Chairman Jordan’s pursuit of answers from Mark Zuckerberg comes at a critical moment in our nation’s history where freedom of expression is increasingly under attack by politically motivated forces both within and outside government structures.
With this letter he hopes to uncover any potential corruption within these industries so that citizens can feel safe expressing their beliefs online without fear of retaliation or retribution by those who may disagree with them ideologically.
It remains unclear what kind of evidence will be revealed through this process but it is clear that Chairman Jordan believes it is important enough to pursue further investigation into potential violations against free speech online.
It will be interesting to see how this develops over time and what implications it may have on similar platforms across the web going forward.
Breitbart.com reported:
Rep. Jim Jordan, (R-OH) has reportedly asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to hand over documents about content moderation on his new platform Threads as part of the House Judiciary’s ongoing investigation of tech platforms’ policies and contact with the Biden administration.
Rep. Jordan, who is also the House Judiciary Chair, alerted Zuckerberg indicating lawmakers’ newfound focus on Threads, according to the letter, obtained by CNBC News.
Threads, often referred to as a clone of Elon Musk’s Twitter, was launched earlier this month and censored Donald Trump Jr. on its first day.
As Breitbart News reported, head of Instagram Adam Mosseri claims the new social media platform will not “encourage” hard news and politics, adding that it is an app for users who are interested in a “less angry” environment.
Read the letter House Judic… by CNBC.com
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