Representative Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) is pressing social-media platforms on what they are doing to combat “misinformation” and “disinformation” as the 2024 presidential election fast approaches.
Schiff and a handful of Democratic colleagues wrote a letter Monday to chief executives at Meta, X, Instagram, Google, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, and Microsoft demanding more information on how the technology companies are gearing up for online “misinformation” and “disinformation” heading into the 2024 election.
“We write to your platforms as concerned Members of Congress, seeking further information about your preparation for and response to the spread of misinformation and disinformation, or the potential incitement of violence on your platforms leading up to the 2024 elections,” the letter reads.
“We continue to be concerned with each of your companies’ ability to react efficiently and effectively to misinformation and disinformation, or to any potential incitement of violence occurring on your platforms.”
The Democratic lawmakers included a list of questions for the platforms and asked them to take further action on fighting “misinformation” and “disinformation” during times outside of election season. The questions address the platforms’s election policies and whether they will be transparent about enforcement.
Representatives Julia Brownley (D., Calif.), Andre Carson (D., Ind.), Dan Goldman (D., N.Y.), Robert Garcia (D., Calif.), Raúl M. Grijalva (D., Ariz.), Hank Johnson (D., Ga.), and Doris Matsui (D., Calif.) signed onto Schiff’s letter.
Proponents of restricting online “misinformation” “disinformation” often claim they support speech limitations to fight viral falsehoods and prevent foreign nations from meddling in American elections. Democrats became particularly sensitive to the idea of false claims spreading like wildfire online following Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
Conservatives have opposed the cottage industry of “disinformation” non-profits and online content moderators following Twitter and Facebook’s decision to censor the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop archive ahead of the 2020 presidential election. The platforms were facing intense pressure from U.S. intelligence agencies to restrict certain forms of speech before the platforms censored the Hunter Biden laptop story.
House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) has spearheaded House GOP investigations into the “disinformation” industry and its closeness to agencies such as the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department. Jordan’s investigations have culminated in multiple reports featuring internal documents showing how the government worked with third parties to pressure tech companies into restricting certain speech online.
In a letter to the Judiciary Committee, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized for Facebook’s censorship of the Biden laptop story and admitted that White House pressure influenced the platform’s moderation of speech related to the Covid-19 pandemic. With the election coming up, Meta rescinded its ban on Trump’s account instituted in the wake of the January 6 Capitol riot.
The question of whether federal agencies can coordinate content moderation with social media platforms was the subject of the Murthy v. Missouri Supreme Court case earlier this year. The justices ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing and threw out the case, a win for the Biden administration. The plaintiffs are attempting to restart the litigation with a lower court and pursue further discovery. Documents obtained through discovery during the litigation appeared to show extensive coordination between Biden administration officials and social-media platforms at the start of the president’s term nearly four years ago.
Under Elon Musk’s ownership, X has dismantled the speech restrictions and monitoring apparatus built by the company’s prior ownership. Musk, a self-proclaimed free speech champion, frequently warns about the risks that social-media censorship poses to the First Amendment and free speech rights more broadly.
When he took over the platform, Musk fired the platform’s top brass and removed speech restrictions that primarily targeted conservative accounts.
Musk also turned over a trove of internal communications and documents to a group of independent journalists showing how the platform worked with “disinformation” groups and government agencies to suppress speech. Those documents, known as the “Twitter Files,” illuminated the close relationships between the federal government and social media companies that developed after the 2016 election.