Republicans Scrutinize Biden White Houses Emails With Tech Platforms
Internal emails from social media companies give fresh impetus to longstanding Republican claims that they are censoring the internet — and that the blame is shifting to non-tech companies. Instead, they focused on the White House.
The emails have been posted in two places: as part of a federal lawsuit brought by the Republican attorney general and a federal court hearing, and as part of an investigation by the Judiciary Committee's chairman, Representative Jim Jordan, D-Ohio.
The case is based in part on internal emails and Twitter messages, now called X, that include letters sent to White House officials. In an email, a White House staffer tweeted, referring to a tweet from vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now a presidential candidate, who wrote: "I wonder if we can start removing vaccines as soon as possible." A court ruling is expected next week on whether a federal appeal would limit the White House's communications with technology companies. A district judge previously issued an injunction barring the White House from contacting the tech companies, but the appeals court overturned the ruling.
During the congressional investigation, Jordan selectively released other internal X-type emails, calling them "Facebook files." Four volumes have been released so far, the last of which was published last week. Jordan demanded documents from other tech companies about their dealings with the Biden administration; Nothing has been published yet
The emails posted by Jordan described meetings, phone calls, and other interactions between Met employees and Biden administration officials, some with people who work in the White House. They are primarily concerned about the White House's response to COVID-19, but also about some of the misinformation about the election and the FBI's response to the Hunter Biden laptop investigation. It does not give the whole picture, but only indicates the point of view of the above-mentioned workers. The staff wrote about the government's alleged efforts to influence how Facebook and Instagram handle posts, which range from medical misinformation about Covid-19 to memes about vaccines.
The emerging dispute over email could change the relationship between the tech giant and the federal government.
Republicans, including Jordan, say the White House proposal violates the First Amendment rights of the technology platforms and their users, but the White House denies the claim.
The Biden administration said its actions come at a unique time: a public health emergency over deaths from COVID-19, particularly the 2021 advocacy campaign.
Some Meta employees said in internal letters that White House arguments influenced Meta's actions, in part because of the risk of strained relations with the government.
“We have been pressured by management and others to do more,” one employee wrote in an email to colleagues in July 2021, explaining why Meta had deleted some posts which he interpreted as being “artificially” linked to SARS-CoV-2. Conclusive and controversial evidence is still lacking. The employee's name has been changed in the email Jordan sent.
"We shouldn't have done that," the employee added.
For years, Republicans have claimed they have been unfairly censored on social media. Courts have repeatedly rejected his biased argument, and plenty of evidence points to the opposite: tech platforms like Facebook are going easy on conservatives.
But now they finally come up with a statement of censure that could reverberate beyond their constituencies.
The only difference is that in the investigation Jordan is leading and in the federal lawsuit, it is not clear whether powerful companies in Silicon Valley were seeking to eliminate positions. For example, former Twitter executives have publicly stated in congressional testimony that their 2020 decision to block the story of Hunter Biden's laptop had nothing to do with pressure from Democrats or law enforcement. But in recently published emails, legal experts say there may be serious complaints about government pressure on tech companies to use technology platforms and their users.
But legal scholars said these considerations must be weighed in light of the exceptional circumstances surrounding the White House's response to the pandemic, which could give White House officials standing in court.
The Supreme Court is sharply divided on when and how public officials can violate the First Amendment during a public health emergency, with rulings on state restrictions on church attendance divided.
Emails produced from the White House as part of a federal court case show that White House officials often communicated alleged misinformation about Covid-19.
Two White House officials expressed their dissatisfaction with the meta-consensus on March 15, 2021. In a thread titled "You're Hiding the Bullet," Chief Digital Strategy Officer Rob Flaherty said Meta should do more to "minimize impact." Anti-vaccination content on Facebook.
"We are very concerned that your service is a major cause of vaccine hesitation," Flaherty wrote in an email to a META employee whose name has been redacted in court documents.
Andy Slavitt, senior adviser on pandemic control at the White House, also offered his thoughts on the matter.
"We need it badly and we don't feel it with you," Slavit wrote. He added, "Internally, we thought about what we could do with it," without giving further details about these options.
Slavit was not immediately available for an interview on the subject, according to his spokeswoman.
An anonymous Meta employee responded that the company "has done everything within its power to provide you with the specific information needed to successfully complete the vaccine rollout." The employee did not commit any new violations.
A month later, in April 2021, Brian Rice, Matter's vice president of public policy, wrote in an email that the company's response to misinformation related to COVID-19 could lead it to a "crossroads" in its broader relationship with the White House. Biden's house.
A Met spokesperson declined to comment on emails this week.
The emails created enough pressure for White House Press Secretary Karen Jean-Pierre to respond.
"We are taking responsible measures to protect public health and safety while facing challenges such as deadly epidemics and foreign invasions in our elections," Jean-Pierre said during a press conference on July 27.
He continued, "We've made it clear time and time again that we believe social media companies have an important responsibility to consider the impact of their platforms on the American people."
In 2021, President Joe Biden has spoken publicly and directly about Facebook and its handling of disinformation about COVID-19, telling reporters, "You're killing people."
A White House spokesman declined to comment further.
Legal experts say a request by a government official to censor a social media post generally violates the First Amendment, even when considering that refusal could amount to retaliation.
A staff descriptive summary describes an inappropriate email from Jordan as a request from the White House: “We can assume that they want to remove content that contains negative information or opinions about vaccines, without concluding that vaccines are more helpful. Information or opinions; silly or sarcastic.” Content suggesting the vaccine is unsafe The employee's name has been redacted, so it's not clear if he also wrote the other controversial emails The email addresses of at least nine Meta employees have been deleted from Jordan's emails, While the names of the executives were not deleted, including Nick Clegg, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Global Affairs, and Rice, Vice President of Public Policy.
The email continues, "The Surgeon General wants us to remove true information about side effects if the user does not provide complete information about whether the side effects are rare and treatable."
In an unspecified email from Jordan, Clegg said waiving the White House request could jeopardize the company's other priorities.
Declining the White House's request, Clegg wrote, "is a recipe for a deep and ongoing conflict with the White House." It doesn't seem like the best place for us."
And in the summer of 2021, US and European officials were actively negotiating a new agreement to regulate transatlantic data flows under privacy laws, a major concern for Facebook and other technology companies.
These emails have received relatively little attention from the mainstream media and the general public, perhaps because previous Republican censorship allegations have often failed. The Twitter Profiles ad launched by tech billionaire Elon Musk last year reignited a public disclosure or internal debate that Republicans say shows internal bias among social media companies.
The name "Facebook Files" has also been linked to a series of 2021 Wall Street Journal articles based on documents from whistleblower Frances Haugen.
But the investigation in Jordan has become a rallying point in the conservative media. According to the site's view counter, the first Wave X email in Jordan on July 27 was viewed more than 29 million times.
Jordan passed a law prohibiting officials, including the president, from publicly suggesting that a social media platform remove a post containing “language protected by the United States Constitution.” (The bill does not mention limits on members of Congress.)
The Republicans' statement caught the attention of leading free speech advocates and legal scholars, who as a group question past allegations about internet censorship.
The Trump White House has also been accused of sending improper censorship requests to tech platforms, including asking Twitter to remove celebrity Chrissy Teigen posts critical of President Donald Trump, a former member of the Twitter team told Congress this year. And in 2020, Trump threatened to shut down social media altogether after Twitter flagged one of his posts as "fact-checking."
Courts have contemplated coercive censorship for decades, and in legal circles, state pressure on censorship has a catchy name: "push."
"The big forgotten problem of free speech is dissent," says Genevieve Laquiere, a professor of law at the University of Chicago. According to Laker, depending on the specific situation and context, "this may be the final direction of the constitution."
Susan Nossel, CEO of free speech advocacy group Penn America, said in an interview that recent revelations from social media companies about interactions with the White House are troubling: “There is cause for concern. When there is evidence that social media platforms are taking Actions... This would be his wish, but the government pushes them.
Many tech companies are taking tough positions on problematic content, such as misinformation about COVID-19 and government anonymity—Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in 2021 that the company's policy is to encourage vaccination against COVID-19.
But Jordan's investigation and the federal lawsuit indicate that it's not just California tech executives that are biased.
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