The Censorship-Industrial Complex

Committee on the Judiciary

2025-02-12

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Source: Congress.gov

Summary

This hearing examines the 'censorship industrial complex'—a network of federal agencies, private companies, and government contractors that have historically suppressed or manipulated public discourse. Witnesses detail how, during the Biden administration, federal agencies pressured social media platforms to remove content critical of the administration, including true information about the Hunter Biden laptop. The hearing reveals that such censorship efforts were not isolated to one administration, with ongoing threats from the Trump administration to silence media and independent critics. Witnesses cite a shift in public policy with Elon Musk’s appointment as a special government employee, creating a direct link between government and private tech platforms. Key discussions include the weaponization of foreign censorship laws, the role of AI in content moderation, and the chilling effects of policy changes on speech. The hearing underscores the importance of accountability, free speech, and the need for bipartisan action to protect the First Amendment, especially as international efforts to regulate online speech may impact American citizens.

Participants

Transcript

Luke, how are you?
Committee will come to order without objection.  The chair is authorized to declare recess at any time.  We welcome everyone to today's hearing on the censorship industrial complex.  The chair now recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Knott, to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.  I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,   We appreciate everyone being here today for this important hearing.  We'll start with opening statements.  Chairs recognize what a difference a few years make.  Four years ago, President Trump was banned from all platforms, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.  Today, he has his own platform.  He's back on all the others.  And of course, he's president of the United States.  Four years ago, Democrat members of Congress sent a letter to telecommunication companies, pressuring them to kick   Fox and Newsmax off of a cable network.  Today, both are still on.  Both are doing fine.  Fox has more viewers than MSNBC and CNN combined.  Four years ago, the White House was actively pressuring big tech to censor Americans.  You don't have to take my word for it.  Mark Zuckerberg wrote the committee a letter, told us it was going on.  He said the Biden administration pressured us to censor.  We did it.  We're sorry.  We ain't going to do it anymore.   They've changed their policies, got rid of the independent fact checkers, and actually embraced the First Amendment.  Imagine that.  And maybe the best example of what they were doing happened on the third day of the administration.  Example we've highlighted many times in this committee in the last Congress.  Third day of the Biden administration, there was an email sent from Clark Humphrey to Twitter.  Email said, wanted to flag the below tweet.
And we hope you can get moving on the process for having it removed ASAP.  Take down this tweet as soon as possible.  And who was the tweet by?  Who did the tweet?  The guy who's going to be named Secretary of Health and Human Services here sometime this week, Robert F. Kennedy.   just happened to be the guy who was going to run against the very people trying to take down the take down the tweet what the tweets say hank aaron's tragic death is part of a wave of suspicious death among elderly closely following administration of the vaccine he received the vaccine on january 5th to inspire other black americans to get the vaccine there is not one thing in that two sentence tweet that's not true absolutely true but the biden administration was pressured to take it down   That's when we, the term, actually it's Mr. Schellenberg's term, the censorship industrial complex, that's what it is right there, front and center, and it's much broader than that.  By the way, the guy who authored this tweet, who's gonna be voted by the United States Senate to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services, we had him as a witness in front of this committee two years ago.  And when RFK Jr. came in to testify, Democrats made a motion to go to executive session, executive session, kick everyone out,   so that no one could hear what RFK Jr. was gonna testify to in a hearing on censorship.  You can't make this stuff up.  Two years ago, we learned that 51 former intel officials lied to the country when they said the Hunter Biden laptop story had all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.  Today, all 51 of those people have lost their security clearance.  A few years ago, GARM,   The misnamed Global Alliance for Responsible Media was coordinating an effort with major advertisers to limit ads on conservative platforms and websites.  Today, Garmin is out of business.  Climate Action 100, a few years ago, coordinated an effort to financial institutions to pressure companies to produce oil and gas, emissions and production.
Today, Climate Action 100, out of business.   A few years ago, the Stanford Internet Observatory was working.

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