House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) just sent a letter to Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) CEO Imran Ahmed requesting documents and information related to the Committee’s oversight of how and to what extent the Biden Administration has coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor American speech online.
Read the letter:
“The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of how and to what extent the Executive Branch has coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech. Certain third parties, including organizations like yours, appear to have played a role in this censorship regime by advising the government and social media companies on so-called ‘misinformation’ and other types of content—sometimes with direct or indirect support or approval from the federal government. Whether directly or indirectly, a government-approved or -facilitated censorship regime is a grave threat to the First Amendment and Americans’ civil liberties. Accordingly, as part of the Committee’s constitutional oversight obligations, we write to request relevant information and documents.
“We are interested in understanding the interactions between the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and the federal government in particular, as well as between CCDH and social media companies. CCDH claims that ‘social media companies erode basic human rights and civil liberties by enabling the spread of online hate and disinformation.’ According to its website, ‘CCDH holds [the social media companies] accountable and responsible for their business choices by . . . advocating change from platforms and governments to protect our communities.’ The Biden White House relied on CCDH’s report titled ‘The Disinformation Dozen,’ in its unconstitutional pressure campaign against social media platforms to censor those, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who CCDH maligned as ‘anti-vaxxers . . . responsible for almost two-thirds of anti-vaccine content circulating on social media platforms.’
“To assist the Committee in its oversight, we ask that you please provide the following documents and information:
1. All documents and communications, from January 1, 2015 to the present, between or among any employee, contractor, or agent of your organization and the Executive Branch of the United States Government referring or relating to the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content; the accuracy or truth of content; or the attribution of content to the source or participant in a foreign malign or state-sponsored influence operation.
2. All documents and communications, from January 1, 2015 to the present, between or among any employee, contractor, or agent of your organization and any technology company, including social media companies, referring or relating to the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content; the accuracy or truth of content; or the attribution of content to the source or participant in a foreign malign or state-sponsored influence operation.
3. A list of employees, contractors, or agents of your organization, along with their current and prior titles, who, from January 1, 2015 to the present, have communicated with the Executive Branch of the United States Government regarding the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content; the accuracy or truth of content; or the attribution of content to the source or participant in a foreign malign or state-sponsored influence operation.
4. A list of employees, contractors, or agents for your organization, along with their current and prior titles, who, from January 1, 2015 to the present, have communicated with any technology company, including social media companies, regarding the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content; the accuracy or truth of content; or the attribution of content to the source or participant in a foreign malign or state-sponsored influence operation.
5. A list of all grants, contracts, or any funds received, from January 1, 2015 to the present, from the United States Government, as well as any underlying documentation that reflects those grants, contracts, or funds, relating in any way to your organization’s efforts concerning the moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content; the accuracy or truth of content; or the attribution of content to the source or participant in a foreign malign or state-sponsored influence operation.
“Please produce all documents and information as soon as possible but no later than 5:00 p.m. on August 17, 2023. In addition, please treat these discovery obligations as ongoing and applicable to any information generated after receipt of this letter.”
Read the full letter to CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed here.
