U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary

05/01/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/01/2024 12:50

Weaponization Committee Exposes the Biden White House Censorship Regime in New Report

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, the House Judiciary Committee and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released an interim staff report titled, "The Censorship-Industrial Complex: How Top Biden White House Officials Coerced Big Tech to Censor Americans, True Information, and Critics of the Biden Administration." The report details the monthslong campaign by the Biden White House to coerce large companies, namely Facebook, Google, and Amazon, to censor books, videos, posts, and other content online. By the end of 2021, Facebook, YouTube, and Amazon changed their content moderation policies in ways that were directly responsive to criticism from the Biden Administration.

After reviewing tens of thousands of emails and nonpublic documents between the Biden White House and Big Tech, the Committee's report reveals:
  • Big Tech changed their content moderation policies because of the Biden White House
  • The Biden White House's censorship targeted true information, satire, and other content that did not violate the platforms' policies
  • The Biden White House's censorship campaign had a chilling effect on other speech
  • The White House had leverage because the companies had other policy concerns involving the Biden Administration
  • The Biden White House pushed censorship of books, not just social media

While the Biden White House's pressure campaign largely succeeded, its effects were devastating. By suppressing free speech and intentionally distorting public debate in the modern town square, ideas and policies were no longer fairly tested and debated on their merits.

The First Amendment prohibits the government from "abridging the freedom of speech." Thus, "any law or government policy that reduces that freedom on the [social media] platforms . . . violates the First Amendment." To inform potential legislation, the Committee and Select Subcommittee have been investigating the Executive Branch's collusion with third party intermediaries to censor speech. The Committee and Select Subcommittee have uncovered other serious violations of the First Amendment throughout the Executive Branch during the Biden Administration.

Read the full interim staff report and appendix here.

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