Jim Jordan, the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and a Republican from Ohio, has asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to provide documents connected to Threads' content management as part of the panel's probe into the policies and links of tech firms with the Biden White House. CNBC has been given exclusive ownership of the letter, representing an initial sign that attention might grow surrounding the newest Meta offering. The Biden government is presently trying to handle a lawsuit associated with its capacity to communicate with tech companies concerning possibly damaging material on their platforms.
Jim Jordan, Chair of the US House Judiciary, has sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to request documents regarding content moderation on Threads in relation to an existing subpoena from the panel investigating tech platform's policies and interactions with the Biden administration. The letter has been exclusively obtained by CNBC, suggesting it is an early indication of the intense focus placed on Meta’s newest product from Washington. Threads, which competes directly with Twitter, owned by Elon Musk who has been vocal about advocating free speech even after suspensions of users including journalists.
Meta executives have made it clear they don’t want news and politics to be a dominant topic of conversation on Threads. Nonetheless, it is a large part of what Twitter has traditionally been used for. Thus, it may be more likely to come under political scrutiny. Jordan stated, “Threads raises serious, particular concerns as it is marketed as a rival to Elon Musk’s Twitter, which has faced political persecution from the Biden Administration following Musk’s commitment to free speech.” He went on to reference a Wall Street Journal article which revealed that, as part of an investigation into whether Twitter was still protecting user data, the FTC had asked for internal communication related to Musk and journalists who had access to the company’s records.
Additionally, Jordan noted that Threads intends to enforce Instagram’s Community Guidelines which have been enforced by the government likely leading to lawful speech being moderated. Missouri and Louisiana’s Attorney Generals had even filed a lawsuit against Biden’s administration alleging that it was attempting to suppress speech by asking social media platforms to address posts the government deemed harmful. This resulted in a federal judge granting, in part, a preliminary injunction that barred Biden administrators from meeting with the companies to encourage posts removal or deletion. Furthermore, the injunction also prohibited officials from flagging such posts. Following this, the State Department canceled a meeting with Facebook regarding the 2024 election and hacking threats, as reported by The Washington Post. However, a temporary pause on the preliminary injunction was requested by an appeals court following which government flagging of social media posts may resume.
Jordan mentioned the existing subpoena related to Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, that is continuing in nature and applies to Threads even with its more recent launch. He further requested Meta to submit documents related to Threads’ content moderation and discussion with the Biden administration by the end of the month. Meta has yet to respond to a request for comment.
Join CNBC on YouTube for updates and sign up for notifications. Meta has recently hit a record high due to 100 million people registering for its Threads platform. Discover how to invest in Meta stock.
Comments