U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) submitted questions to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary record following their hearing last week. In his questions, Senator Hawley continues to press both CEOs on their companies practices of coordinated censorship and tracking of users all across the web.
In a U.S. Senate Judiciary hearing with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) revealed an internal tool used by Facebook, Google and Twitter to coordinate the censorship of users. Senator Hawley also revealed an internal tool used by Facebook to track the actions of users across the internet that was previously believed to be private. The use of the internal tools was disclosed to Senator Hawley by a whistleblower from Facebook.
“Today’s lawsuit is the most important antitrust case in a generation. Google and its fellow Big Tech monopolists exercise unprecedented power over the lives of ordinary Americans, controlling everything from the news we read to the security of our most personal information. And Google in particular has gathered and maintained that power through illegal means. That is why I launched a sweeping antitrust investigation of Google when I was Missouri Attorney General, and that’s why I stand behind the Department of Justice’s actions today. But to be clear – this is just a first step, and I will continue to fight for the legislative solutions needed to end the tyranny of Big Tech.”
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg questioning the company’s suspension of advertising privileges for pro-life groups, including Susan B. Anthony List and Missouri-based Choose Life Marketing. The Susan B. Anthony List ads were rejected from Facebook on the basis of a draft “fact check” from the anti-Trump news site The Dispatch, while Choose Life Marketing had its ad distribution privileges abruptly suspended with no policy explanation from Facebook.
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, announced he would call Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify on potential violations of federal election law in their censorship of the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden. Senator Hawley has also called on the Federal Election Commission to open an investigation in the matter.
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) formally invited Facebook and Twitter to testify regarding their censorship of the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden. Senator Hawley said that the companies have violated campaign finance law by offering an in-kind contribution to the Biden campaign.
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding the company’s decision to censor a story regarding Hunter Biden’s contacts with Ukrainian energy executives. Senator Hawley asked Facebook whether it is normal policy to reduce distribution of articles before they have been fact-checked, if they have any evidence the story contains disinformation, and whether any member of the Biden-Harris campaign encouraged or requested Facebook suppress the story.
Following his letter to Facebook, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey regarding the company’s decision to prevent users from sharing the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden in any capacity.
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wrote a letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) General Counsel expressing serious concerns about the possibility of campaign finance violations benefitting the Biden campaign in Twitter and Facebook’s suppression of the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden. Senator Hawley writes that, as the Biden campaign derives value from the suppression of the story, the companies may have therefore made in-kind contributions to the campaign.
In response to Facebook’s recent announcement that it will ban political advertising in the week leading up the November 2020 elections, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking that he reconsider his decision. Senator Hawley writes that Facebook’s decision could have the effect of suppressing voter turnout and includes an overly broad blackout of advertising related to “social issues.”