Revelations from the past week might confirm suspicions that social media companies have been stifling the voices of conservatives. [Source]
Documents have emerged detailing the questionable relationship between the Biden White House and Big Tech giant Meta (formerly known as Facebook).
Missouri’s Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, shared insights from these documents during his conversation with Fox & Friends. [Source]
“We knew that Joe Biden had coerced and colluded with Big Tech social media platforms to silence American voices in violation of the First Amendment right to free speech,” said Bailey.
He continued, “What this shows is that not only did he coerce and collude with Big Tech social media, but he also pushed them further than their own internal censorship policies… This clearly establishes that Big Tech social media platforms understood that the federal government was making demands and pushing them beyond the bounds of their own internal policies and memoranda.”
In a detailed thread aptly titled, “THE FACEBOOK FILES, PART 1,” Rep. Jim Jordan explained the documents that Bailey was referring to. [Source]
Jordan unveiled how, during the initial months of 2021, Facebook and other platforms faced a barrage of both public and private pressures from the Biden administration to clamp down on what was ambiguously labeled as “misinformation.” [Source]
Among the most startling pieces of evidence was an April 2021 email, wherein a Facebook staffer briefed CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg about the growing pressures from the Biden Administration. [Source]
It didn’t end there.
Nick Clegg, Meta’s president for global affairs, received direct communication from Andy Slavitt, a senior Biden advisor. Slavitt expressed his outrage over Facebook’s decision not to censor a particular post. [Source]
When Clegg voiced concerns about the First Amendment implications of such actions, they were apparently dismissed out of hand. [Source]
The emails further reveal that Brian Rice, Facebook’s VP of public policy, expressed concerns about the platform’s relationship with the Biden White House, emphasizing a pressing need to reevaluate their stand and strategies in the wake of such direct challenges. [Source]
“Given what is at stake here, it would also be a good idea if we could regroup and take stock of where we are in our relations with the White House, and our internal methods too,” wrote Rice in an email. [Source]
Jordan revealed evidence suggesting that the Biden administration, discontented with Meta’s censorship rate, questioned the platform’s decision not to censor a video from Tucker Carlson. [Source]
In efforts to appease the White House, Meta was even prepared to admit they had demoted Carlson’s video by 50%, despite the fact it didn’t infringe on any of their policies. [Source]
By July 2021, President Biden escalated his stance, asserting that platforms like Facebook were “killing people” due to their perceived lax stance on misinformation. [Source]
Barely a month later, Facebook publicized their intention to revise their policies, a move Rep. Jordan directly ties back to pressure from the White House. [Source]
Jordan didn’t hold back, “These documents, AND OTHERS that were just produced to the Committee, prove that the Biden Administration abused its powers to coerce Facebook into censoring Americans, preventing free and open discourse on issues of critical public importance.” [Source]
“Only after the Committee announced its intention to hold Mark Zuckerberg in contempt did Facebook produce ANY internal documents to the Committee, including these documents, which PROVE that government pressure was directly responsible for censorship on Facebook.” [Source]
Jordan concluded with: “Based on Facebook’s newfound commitment to fully cooperate with the Committee’s investigation, the Committee has decided to hold contempt in abeyance. For now. To be clear, contempt is still on the table and WILL be used if Facebook fails to cooperate in FULL.” [Source]
This is only part 1 of “The Facebook Files.” There are more documents to be released. What will part 2 reveal? Will Facebook cooperate with the Committee?