House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is reportedly considering holding Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in contempt of Congress.
Sources familiar with the Judiciary's investigation into Facebook confirmed that contempt of Congress charges are likely as Zuckerberg has refused to provide any internal communications on its censorship processes.
Back in February, the House Judiciary panel issued subpoenas to Zuckerberg and four others for “documents and communications relating to the federal government’s reported collusion with Big Tech to suppress free speech."
This investigation is a key part of investigating the extent of the collusion between tech companies and the federal government.
Companies like Facebook and Twitter were used by the federal government to censor speech and discussions circumventing the 1st Amendment. Now House Republicans are out to get the truth and punish those who obstruct the investigation.
The Democrat Party has enjoyed a massive advantage in recent elections thanks to its alliance with large tech companies that censor and suppress damaging ideas for Democrats.
This was most noticeable during the Covid-19 pandemic when platforms like Twitter and Facebook outright censored ideas that questioned the narrative.
The collusion between Big Tech and the government has also influenced elections. Without Big Tech suppressing information and censoring Republicans, it is possible that former President Donald Trump would have won in the last election.
However, it seems that Zuckerberg and his contemporaries aren't giving up without a fight. While Meta claims it has provided the documents requested, the Judiciary Committee says otherwise.
Meta issued a statement to The Hill on Monday saying they had provided 50,000 pages of documents to the committee and “have made nearly a dozen current and former employees available to discuss external and internal issues."
But it seems likely that none of the documents provided actually covered Meta's censorship and moderation practices.
Jordan wrote in May, "Meta’s rolling productions to date have not included material the Committee knows is, or has reason to believe may be, in the company’s possession and that is responsive to the subpoena … If Meta fails to comply in full with the subpoena’s demands, the Committee may be forced to consider the use of one or more enforcement mechanisms."
Zuckerberg's headaches don't end there as Jordan has also taken an interest in Meta's new app, Threads. Jordan said, "Given that Meta has censored First Amendment-protected speech as a result of government agencies' requests and demands in the past, the Committee is concerned about potential First Amendment violations that have occurred or will occur on the Threads platform."
It seems highly likely that Zuckerberg will find himself on the wrong end of a contempt charge and House Republicans will have to take more drastic measures to uncover the truth.
