Big Tech

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.”

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced he will introduce the Behavioral Advertising Decisions Are Downgrading Services (BAD ADS) Act, a bill to remove Section 230 immunity from Big Tech companies that display manipulative, behavioral ads or provide data to be used for them. Senator Hawley’s bill would crack down on behavioral advertising’s negative effects, which include invasive data collection and user manipulation through design choices.

Senator Hawley sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey requesting he respond to reports that a Twitter employee was involved in Wednesday’s cyberattack and, if true, when Twitter became aware of this fact. Senator Hawley also asked Dorsey to explain screenshots seeming to indicate Twitter engages in “shadowbanning” users and whether these tools have ever been applied to an elected official.

Following a massive Twitter cyberattack during which countless accounts were hacked, including those of former President Barack Obama and presidential nominee Joe Biden, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey requesting he immediately reach out the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation to take any necessary measures to secure the site.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a bill to empower Americans to sue Big Tech companies who act in bad faith by selectively censoring political speech and hiding content created by their competitors. Cosponsored by Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Senator Hawley’s bill would prohibit Big Tech companies from receiving Section 230 immunity unless they update their terms of service to promise to operate in good faith and pay a $5,000 fine if they violate that promise.

Following reports that Google threatened to demonetize The Federalist based on its comments section, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai blasting the company for political censorship. Senator Hawley writes that Google is aware of its dominance in online advertising and, based on information provided by foreign dark-money groups, is attempting to use that power to target conservative outlets and dissenting voices.

U.S. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wrote to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging the agency to investigate new evidence that the popular video social media platform TikTok has violated the privacy of its young users and failed to abide by the terms of a 2019 settlement with the FTC.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey questioning why Twitter should continue to receive special immunity from the federal government after choosing to editorialize on President Trump’s tweets. Twitter currently receives special immunity under the law in what’s known as Section 230, which states that companies that merely distribute user content should not be treated like a publisher, such as the New York Times or the Washington Post. But, with Twitter’s decision to editorialize on President Trump’s tweets, the company appears to be acting like shifting to a publisher, and Senator Hawley is asking why Twitter should continue to receive special protection for distributors if it is going to act like a publisher.

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure that its antitrust investigation into Google includes the company’s search operations. In the letter, the Senators point to the European Union fining Google $2.7 billion for manipulating search results as well as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finding evidence that Google engaged in similar search manipulation as early as 2012.