Bea Beltran Tech 02.16.2023 01:Feb AM EST

House Judiciary Committee Chair Subpoenas Tech Giant CEOs Over Content Moderation Policies

Tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft are facing accusations from House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, regarding their platforms' methods concerning content moderation and censorship.

Questioning the Big Techs

The House Panel aims to determine the extent of censorship in certain content that the federal government allegedly pressured companies to do. This is based on many Republican politicians believing that conservative views are being labeled as misinformation or hate speech by tech companies.

With the House of Representatives controlled by Republicans, the subject is bound to be re-evaluated. The CEOs included in the subpoena will have until March 23rd to provide communications between them and the executive branch regarding the subject.

The communications in question are the ones referring to or relating to moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, or reduced circulation of content, according to the subpoena. Jordan made this move his top priority upon becoming chairman last month.

The House Judiciary Committee chairman's letter stated that to develop effective legislation, the Committee will have to understand the extent the executive branch "coerced and colluded" with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech.

The requests include details about individuals who are responsible for the moderation policies that the platforms have, as well as officials they were in touch with within the executive branch, as mentioned in Engadget.

However, this may not lead to the outcome that the panels hope to gain. There have been previous attempts to look deeper into the policies that are allegedly biased against conservatives, but studies show no evidence of these claims.

Among the big tech CEOs, Twitter was not included in the subpoena. It may be due to Elon Musk's "free speech" advocacy, and the fact that he reinstated Donald Trump, who was previously suspended on the platform.

The Tech CEOs' Response

Jordan believes that the tech companies did not comply with the House Republican's similar request previously. Although many were called including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon CEO And Jassy, and Apple CEO TimCook, only Meta and Microsoft have responded so far.

Microsoft has started to produce documents, is engaged with the committee, and is committed to working in good faith, according to CBS News. Meta responded as well, saying that they too are producing documents for the request and will continue to do so moving forward.

The Importance of Content Moderation

Social media platforms now play a huge part when it comes to information like news regarding a plethora of topics. It has grown to the point of having billions of monthly active users in the world, that's why it's important to filter the content that reaches users.

Aside from taking down posts or comments that contain harmful, vulgar, or profane photos and text, it's now easy enough for anyone to claim something to be a fact and add more false information to back it.

That is why flagging posts and taking them down or labeling them as fake, misleading, or hoax can prevent them from spreading further. This has been a concerning issue especially when it comes to political statements online.

Although users have the right to voice out their thoughts, the platforms still have to monitor if it violates certain rules. The subpoena aims to determine whether those rules cross the line between moderation and intentional silencing.