Rep. Nancy Mace, the top Republican on the House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, issued a subpoena to the Biden administration as part of an investigation into potential efforts to limit information on social media ahead of the November elections. Mace is seeking communications between the administration and social media companies, citing concerns about transparency and government interference in content moderation. The subpoena follows previous requests for information from the administration, which went unanswered.
Conservatives have accused the White House of pressuring platforms like Meta and Twitter to censor content that doesn’t align with the administration’s views. However, the Supreme Court dismissed claims of illegal pressure on social media companies, with a conservative justice noting that platforms had independently strengthened their moderation policies.
Mace pointed to statements by FCC’s top Republican, Brendan Carr, as evidence of potential content suppression efforts. Carr highlighted a Facebook post critical of the Biden-Harris administration that was initially labeled as misinformation but later cleared after his public complaint.
The subpoena requests documents related to communications between the White House and social media companies concerning information suppression from January 2024 onwards. The ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, Rep. Gerry Connolly, criticized the subpoena as an overreaction and shifted focus to alleged Republican collusion with social media companies.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the subpoena.
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