Is Biden Administration Asking Apple, Amazon, Facebook To Censor Conservatives? House Republicans Reportedly Seek Answers From Big Tech

Zinger Key Points
  • Big techs are bracing for increased scrutiny after the Republicans took control of the House.
  • GOP lawmakers are reportedly seeking documents that can compel testimony by decision makers at these companies,

Big techs, led by Apple Inc. AAPL, received a foretaste of what was to come as the Republican-led House prepares a fresh onslaught of investigations into their censorship policies.

What Happened: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who is set to chair the House Financial Services Committee in the new Congress, sent a letter to top executives of Apple, Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL, Amazon Inc. AMZN, Microsoft Corp. MSFT and Meta Platforms Inc. META, seeking information they may have on their contacts with President Joe Biden’s administration regarding censorship of content, Reuters reported, citing the letter it had access to.

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The lawmaker specifically sought information on any "moderation, deletion, suppression, restricting, or reduced circulation of content," the report added.

The midterms gave the GOP a majority in the House, which vests them with the power to control key committees when the new Congress convenes in January.

Jordan reportedly mentioned in the letter that the big tech’s previous responses to letters sent by House Republicans have not satisfied their concerns. “Committee Republicans will continue to pursue these matters, including into the 118th Congress if necessary,” he added.

Why It’s Important: Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk has recently released internal “going-ons” in the social media platforms, with one set of Twitter Files showing that the “Hunter Biden” laptop story was censored, citing vague and arbitrary rules.

In September, Jordan and some of his party colleagues sent a letter to Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg in which they alleged that its flagship platform Facebook suppressed a New York Post report about the “Hunter Biden” story and sought all documents and communications between the company and any person affiliated with the FBI, and President Biden.

A recent Bloomberg report said the Republicans are not keen on bringing CEOs of big techs to “embarrassing hearings,” but rather they are looking to secure documents and compel testimony by decision-makers at these companies.

Read Next: One Of The Best Performing Traders In Congress Is Buying Big Tech Stocks: Here's What He Bought

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