House Republicans Could Hold Mark Zuckerberg in Contempt This Week

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies remotely during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington on Nov. 17, 2020. (Hannah McKay/Pool via AP)

The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee is considering voting this week to hold Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg in contempt, according to a spokesman.

Judiciary Republicans, including the panel’s chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), have accused Meta of being uncooperative in regards to the panel’s efforts to investigate potential censorship and collusion between Big Tech and the federal government.

Meta owns Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and now Threads.

When asked about the possible contempt charges against Mr. Zuckerberg this week, a spokesperson for Mr. Jordan’s office told The Epoch Times that Republicans are “considering it.” Some reports indicated that it could happen by Thursday, July 27.

“Meta has critical information that it has not turned over to the committee regarding federal government efforts to censor speech online and how Meta responded to those efforts,” Russell Dye, a spokesman for Mr. Jordan’s office, said in a statement to The Epoch Times on Monday. “It is imperative the committee get these materials and we will take whatever actions necessary to facilitate that end.”

The Epoch Times has contacted Meta Platforms for comment.

Seeking Info From Pandemic Era

In a July 17 interview with Fox News, Mr. Jordan was asked about the prospect of holding Mr. Zuckerberg in contempt and said that his social media networks allegedly censored “protected speech” amid government agency requests.

If Mr. Zuckerberg doesn’t provide the information, Republicans will bring contempt charges against him, Mr. Jordan said.

“We know Facebook was censoring Americans because a federal court told us so two weeks ago, laid out 86 pages of facts with the Facebook and federal agencies pressuring them and other Big Tech companies.”

The new Meta Platforms venture, Threads, is also using the same guidelines that Facebook used to censor users, Mr. Jordan added. “This is a direct attack on the First Amendment. And we want the information we’ve asked for months ago, and if they don’t give it to us, we can move ahead with contempt if we need to,” the chairman added.

The House Judiciary Committee has been specifically seeking communications about content-moderation decisions that were made during the COVID-19 pandemic and if government officials asked Meta to delete posts or suspend users. In May, Mr. Jordan sent a letter to Meta and its CEO, asking them to provide more information, while claiming that previous efforts to hand over materials weren’t good enough.

“Meta’s rolling productions to date have not included material the Committee knows is, or has reason to believe may be, in the company’s possession and that is responsive to the subpoena. … If Meta fails to comply in full with the subpoena’s demands, the Committee may be forced to consider the use of one or more enforcement mechanisms,” Mr. Jordan wrote in May.

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) speaks during John Durham’s testimony in Congress in Washington on June 21, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

Meta told news outlets recently that some 50,000 pages of documents were handed over to the House Judiciary Committee in response to its request. The company also made about a dozen current and former Meta employees available for discussion with House Republicans, it said, adding that it will “work with the committee moving forward.”

Censorship Claims

For years now, Facebook and Instagram have been accused of censoring, shadow-banning, suspending, or reducing the reach of users who share content that goes against mainstream narratives. For instance, the company was criticized in early 2020 over attempts to block or “fact check” content about claims about the origins of COVID-19 and whether it was tied to a controversial virology laboratory in Wuhan, China.

Months ago during a surprise appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Mr. Zuckerberg revealed that the FBI sent warnings about so-called misinformation in the lead-up to the 2020 election. As a result, Meta and Facebook restricted or blocked posts about Hunter Biden’s laptop, which included a New York Post article that claimed the laptop contained messages suggesting that President Joe Biden may have received a 10 percent cut on a deal with his son and a Chinese energy firm.

“When we take down something that we’re not supposed to, that’s the worst,” Mr. Zuckerberg told Mr. Rogan, adding that it “sucks” to get the decision wrong.

Mr. Zuckerberg elaborated to Mr. Rogan at the time that “the background here is that the FBI came to us ... and was like, ‘Hey, just so you know, you should be on high alert. We thought there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election, we have it on notice that basically there’s about to be some kind of dump that’s similar to that.’”

Mr. Jordan’s committee has said that it specifically wants to determine if Meta has colluded with any federal agencies or officials.

“Given that Meta has censored First Amendment-protected speech as a result of government agencies’ requests and demands in the past, the Committee is concerned about potential First Amendment violations that have occurred or will occur on the Threads platform,” Mr. Jordan said.