The Home Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Alphabet on Thursday looking for its communications with former President Joe Biden’s administration about content material moderation insurance policies.
Home Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a Republican, additionally requested the YouTube dad or mum firm for related communications with corporations and teams outdoors authorities, in line with a replica of the subpoena seen by Reuters.
The subpoena seeks communications about limits or bans on content material about President Trump, Tesla CEO and shut Trump ally Elon Musk, the virus that causes COVID-19 and a number of different conservative dialogue subjects.
The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have taken purpose at Huge Tech corporations over insurance policies they are saying result in suppression of conservative viewpoints on-line. Federal Commerce Fee Chairman Andrew Ferguson has stated corporations that coordinated their insurance policies with others or misled customers about their very own insurance policies might have violated the regulation.
Final yr beneath scrutiny from Jordan’s Home panel, Meta Platforms stated the Biden administration had pressured it to censor content material. The corporate in the end dialed again its content material moderation in January.
“Alphabet, to our knowledge, has not similarly disavowed the Biden-Harris Administration’s attempts to censor speech,” Jordan stated in a letter to the corporate on Thursday.
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda stated the corporate will “continue to show the committee how we enforce our policies independently, rooted in our commitment to free expression.”
