Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) gave multiple examples of Biden administration coercion of Big Tech to censor free speech in a congressional hearing Thursday, even arguing the White House used a “pretty explicit threat.”
The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government held a hearing July 20 at which targets of government censorship efforts testified. Steube listed off examples from a court opinion by U.S. District Court Judge Terry A. Doughty, saying that “illustrating some of the actions that the Biden administration took to censor speech is very important.”
While “explicit threats are an obvious form of coercion,” Steube read, not all coercion takes so direct a form. Steube read Biden White House messages to a social platform. Specifically, the message said, “‘Cannot stress the degree to which this needs to be resolved immediately, please remove this account immediately.’” As Steube commented, “Sounds like a directive from the White House to me to social media companies.”
The Biden White House further strangely accused Facebook of allowing “political violence,” Steube continued, by not censoring enough COVID-19 content. “‘I want to know what reduction actually looks like,” Steube read an arrogant White House message. “‘If reduction means pumping our most vaccine-hesitant audience with Tucker Carlson saying it does not work, then I’m not sure it’s reduction.’” The White House was frustrated that the Carlson video had received 40,000 shares even after supposedly being demoted.
Steube said that the Biden White House also demanded to know why COVID-19 lockdown skeptic and journalist Alex Berenson had not been banned from Twitter, calling Berenson an “epicenter of disinformation.” The White House even requested to know “how much content is being demoted” and the effectiveness of mitigation, Steube continued, ranting to Facebook, “Are you guys f—ing serious? I want an answer on what happened here, and I want it today.” All of which seems a direct attack on the First Amendment from the Biden administration.
Steube himself said such language directed at Facebook sounded “like a pretty explicit threat to me.”
Then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki even admitted to regular coordination with Big Tech companies, Steube noted. Psaki said “‘we’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook’” and requesting a “‘robust enforcement strategy’” from social media.
As Steube read from the opinion, “‘These actions are just a few examples of the unrelenting pressure the [government] defendants exerted on social media companies,’” meaning plaintiffs “‘can likely prove’” the White House “‘engaged in coercion to induce social media companies to suppress free speech.’”
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