The Home Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Alphabet on Thursday in search of its communications with former President Joe Biden’s administration about content material moderation insurance policies.
Home Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a Republican, additionally requested the YouTube mother or father firm for comparable communications with corporations and teams exterior authorities, in line with a duplicate of the subpoena seen by Reuters.
The subpoena seeks communications about limits or bans on content material about President Trump, Tesla CEO and shut Trump ally Elon Musk, the virus that causes COVID-19 and a number of different conservative dialogue matters.
The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have taken intention at Huge Tech corporations over insurance policies they are saying result in suppression of conservative viewpoints on-line. Federal Commerce Fee Chairman Andrew Ferguson has stated corporations that coordinated their insurance policies with others or misled customers about their very own insurance policies might have violated the legislation.
Final 12 months beneath scrutiny from Jordan’s Home panel, Meta Platforms stated the Biden administration had pressured it to censor content material. The corporate finally dialed again its content material moderation in January.
“Alphabet, to our information, has not equally disavowed the Biden-Harris Administration’s makes an attempt to censor speech,” Jordan stated in a letter to the corporate on Thursday.
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda stated the corporate will “proceed to indicate the committee how we implement our insurance policies independently, rooted in our dedication to free expression.”
Supply hyperlink