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Google parent company Alphabet has been subpoenaed by the US House judiciary committee, which has requested its discussions on content moderation with the administration of former US president Joe Biden.
Specifically, the subpoena is after communications regarding bans on content published by President Donald Trump, presidential right-hand man and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the COVID-19 virus and more.
US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairman Andrew Ferguson said that tech giants may have broken the law by coordinating content management policies to hide conservative opinions.
US House Committee chairman Jim Jordan also requested communications between Alphabet and other non-government organisations, according to Reuters who had viewed a copy of the subpoena.
The latest move is part of a wider campaign against the tech giants for this reason.
Last year, Meta told Jordan it had been pressured by the Biden administration to censor content. It rolled back its content moderation policies in January in line with Trump’s inauguration.
While Alphabet is yet to comment specifically on the subpoena, company spokesperson Jose Castaneda said it maintains that its content moderation policy is dedicated to free expression.
“We continue to show the committee how we enforce our policies independently, rooted in our commitment to free expression,” Castaneda said.
Last month, the FTC invited those who believe they have been censored on social media platforms and more to reach out as they conduct research on censorship of posted content on tech platforms.
The FTC probe is looking to prohibit “potentially illegal” and “un-American” censorship on tech platforms and is inviting users, specifically individuals, to share their experiences.
“Tech firms should not be bullying their users,” Ferguson said. “This inquiry will help the FTC better understand how these firms may have violated the law by silencing and intimidating Americans for speaking their minds.”
The probe follows an executive order by US President Donald Trump in January that aims to end censorship and restore free speech.
The FTC said social media platforms could use “confusing or unpredictable internal procedures” that shut down a user’s ability to post, adding it wants to hear from “anyone who can shed light on these practices and the ways in which they may violate the law”.
Trump himself was removed and banned from Meta’s social media platforms Instagram and Facebook, as well as Twitter before it was owned by Elon Musk and became X, and has accused these companies of violating free speech.
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