Industry Groups Prepare For Big Tech Investigations By GOPled House
Industry groups for the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are preparing to investigate federal agencies and big tech companies over surveillance allegations.
As expected, if Republicans take control of the House, federal agencies such as the FBI and CIA will work with Facebook and Google to investigate using the committees to remove Covid-19 and election-related content.
McCarthy clears the first hurdle as speaker.
"There's going to be a lot of censorship hearings," NetChoice President Carl Sabo told the Washington Examiner. "That's completely gone in the last two years."
In particular, House committees are expected to hold hearings on the conduct of government agencies dealing with misinformation about Covid-19 and the relationship between the CDC and META. These investigations build on indictments by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana that found multiple connections between the agency and the social media platform.
Szabo argued that the House of Representatives, led by Nancy Pelosi, cannot control agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission when pursuing policy initiatives. The FTC's decision to investigate Elon Musk's control of Twitter comes after suggestions that the billionaire's Twitter bias is politically motivated.
Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has signaled an interest in investigating Facebook's role in censoring a New York Post story about Hunter Biden's laptop. Further investigations are expected from the Republican side.
"House Republicans have emphasized that their primary focus is on constructive technology policy, using their platform to pressure companies on moderate content policies, and specifically on companies removing more conservative content from their websites," Adam Kovacevich, executive director of the House of Progress, told the Washington Examiner .
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Kovacevic, a liberal trade group, called the ongoing investigation satisfactory. House Republicans said the little progress they could make would make it difficult to pass anything in terms of any investigation.
The House of Representatives may focus on passing bills that provide privacy and parental controls. According to California Rep. Kevin McCarthy's plan, the party's agenda includes "strengthening data privacy and security, giving parents more tools to protect their children online, and preventing companies from politicizing people." Head
