Congress hears testimony on alleged social media censorship

A House subcommittee on Thursday held a hearing as part of its investigation into whether government agencies worked with social media companies to moderate content. Lawmakers launched the investigation earlier this year following allegations that the White House colluded with tech companies to censor free speech about topics including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Thursday wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the committee has evidence that the Biden administration worked with Google to suppress content on YouTube about COVID-19 and vaccines. Representative Stacey Plaskett, D-Virgin Islands, during the hearing called the claims unfounded.

Who testified at the hearing? Journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger testified about their experience writing the so-called “Twitter Files” report last year. The report described leaked internal documents that appeared to show that government officials pushed the company to target alleged misinformation. During Thursday’s hearing, Taibbi and Shellenberger said that their investigation found evidence of suppression on both sides of the political aisle.

Dig deeper: Read Steve West’s report in Liberties about a court’s decision to block federal agencies from influencing social media platforms’ content moderation.