The FBI’s defense of plotting with Big Tech company against the First Amendment is as dubious as they come.
The House Judiciary Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government held a hearing to hold the FBI and the Department of Justice accountable for their apparent abuse of power and involvement in silencing Americans.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) pressed FBI Director Christopher Wray to answer for the Bureau’s collusion with Big Tech platforms to censor constitutionally-protected speech. Wray passed the buck, giving the classic line that the FBI leaves it up to social media companies to decide whether or not to take action.
Issa was having none of it though. He delivered a scorching response to Wray’s ludicrous remark. “The suggestion of the most powerful law enforcement operation is not a suggestion, it is in fact effectively an order,” the congressman said before concluding his questioning of the FBI director.
Earlier in the exchange, Issa noted the “authority” and “leverage” that the FBI can use to persuade social media companies like Meta, Google and Twitter to remove content and how it seems that this would not be part of the FBI’s job. “Where do you find the [national security] interest in free speech of American citizens being taken down? And I repeat, free speech of American citizens. Where do you have the authority?” a fired-up Issa asked in reference to the FBI’s collusion with Big Tech companies.
Wray, in a typical nonchalant answer, claimed, “We don’t ask social media companies to censor information or suppress information when it comes to national security threats certainly,” Wray answered, downplaying the damning evidence that the FBI wielded its power to influence Big Tech to attack free speech.
The tense exchange came after Issa pressed Wray over damning reports that the FBI assisted the Russian-infiltrated Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in targeting the profile of U.S.-based journalists. Referring to the allegations, which were first exposed by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Monday, Wray claimed, “What we do do, is alert them is when some other intelligence agency gives us information about a foreign intelligence service being behind some account, we would call social media companies’ attention to that. But at the end of the day, we’re very clear that it’s up to the social media companies to decide whether to do something about it or not.”
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representative and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
