House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a series of letters on Tuesday, seeking to stay current on the FBI and U.S. Justice Department officials’ efforts to communicate with and potentially sway the behavior of major technology companies like Google and Facebook.
The FBI and DOJ have come under past scrutiny for their outreach to major technology firms amid concerns these federal officials are pressuring or inducing social media platforms and search engines to censor or disrupt the spread of certain political views online. These concerns formed the basis for an ongoing federal lawsuit, originally filed as Missouri v. Biden, alleging officials within President Joe Biden’s administration had exercised their influence over technology companies to censor disfavored views on topics such as the 2020 election and COVID-19 under the guise of combatting misinformation and protecting against foreign election interference.
