Washington, D.C. — The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan, is warning that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg could be held in contempt of Congress for his failure to provide documents related to an investigation into alleged censorship of conservatives by tech companies.
Jordan announced that the committee plans to hold a hearing on Thursday to vote on a contempt report, outlining Zuckerberg’s “willful refusal” to comply with a subpoena issued in February.
The GOP-controlled committee is expected to pass the measure. Following the August recess, it would then be up to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to schedule a full House vote on the contempt resolution.
Should the House hold Zuckerberg in contempt, the Justice Department would determine whether or not to prosecute him.
Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Meta, revealed that the company has already handed over more than 50,000 pages of internal and external documents to the committee since February. He also stated that Meta has made current and former employees available for interviews with lawmakers.
“For months, Meta has cooperated in good faith with the committee’s extensive information requests,” Stone emphasized.
Investigation into Big Tech’s Content Moderation
Rep. Jordan, R-Ohio, has taken action to investigate Big Tech’s content moderation practices, specifically in relation to COVID-19. As part of this effort, subpoenas were issued to the chief executives of five major tech companies: Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Tim Cook of Apple, and Andy Jassy of Amazon.com. The purpose of these subpoenas is to obtain any documents that could support the claim of widespread corporate censorship of conservative voices.
Rep. Jordan has specifically been putting pressure on Meta (formerly Facebook), even going as far as sending a recent letter to Mark Zuckerberg. In this letter, he requested a new set of documents related to content moderation on Meta’s new app, Threads, which aims to rival Twitter.
The investigation into Big Tech’s content moderation practices is a priority for Rep. Jordan and his fellow Republicans in Congress. They are determined to uncover any potential biases or censorship that may be occurring within these tech giants.
Subpoenas Issued
Rep. Jordan has issued subpoenas to the following chief executives:
- Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook
- Sundar Pichai – Alphabet
- Satya Nadella – Microsoft
- Tim Cook – Apple
- Andy Jassy – Amazon.com
Twitter Excluded from Subpoenas
Twitter was not included in the list of companies subpoenaed. This is likely because Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of Twitter, has shown more sympathy towards conservatives than previous Twitter management.
Pressure on Meta (formerly Facebook)
Rep. Jordan has been particularly focused on Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook. He recently sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg requesting additional documents related to content moderation on Meta’s new app, Threads, which aims to compete with Twitter. Rep. Jordan is determined to thoroughly investigate content moderation practices within Meta.
The investigation into Big Tech’s content moderation practices remains a top priority for Rep. Jordan and his colleagues. They are committed to uncovering any evidence of corporate censorship or bias against conservative voices within these tech giants.
