Biden administration appeals ruling over new social media limits
The administration requested a stay on the new limits while it seeks an appeal, which could make its way to the Supreme Court.
LEARN MOREPosted: 8:38 p.m. EDT Jul 17, 2023
The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed Facebook owner Meta over concerns about censorship on its new Threads app.
In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a Republican, says Meta must provide any documents regarding its content moderation and "Meta's engagements with the Executive Branch."
The committee is concerned that the Executive Branch "coerced or colluded" with social platforms to remove content, and in doing so potentially violated the First Amendment.
"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," Jordan wrote in the letter.
The letter gives Meta until July 31, 2023 to provide documents.
The letter comes as the Biden Administration is embroiled in a court case over its approach to content moderation.
In July, a district judge blocked several federal agencies and officials of the Biden Administration from contacting social media companies to discuss matters of protected speech. The judge agreed that the administration had overstepped in asking social platforms to deal with alleged misinformation surrounding COVID vaccines and election security.
The administration appealed the order to the 5th U.S. District Court of Appeals in New Orleans, and says it may appeal the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court.
