Mace Calls on Biden-Harris Administration to Provide Transparency on Current Censorship Efforts to Interfere in the 2024 Election

WASHINGTON-Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Chairwoman Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) today is calling on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to provide all White House communications with social media companies and between federal employees about efforts to pressure social media platforms to censor online content. The Biden-Harris Administration has a track record of bullying social media companies to censor content by suppressing certain information and viewpoints.

"In the interest of good government, and to ensure the integrity of the upcoming national election, I am writing to request information on any information suppression campaigns in which the Administration is currently engaged. I urge you to cease and desist any such activity and ensure that all employees of the Executive Branch refrain from exerting political pressure on social media companies to censor content in accord with White House preferences," wrote Subcommittee Chairwoman Mace.

Recently, Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee that in 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured Facebook to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire. Previously, both Zuckerberg and former Twitter executives confirmed the platforms censored the New York Post's story about Hunter Biden's laptop followed warnings from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that Facebook should be cautious of misinformation and foreign interference ahead of the 2020 election. The House Oversight Committee has approved legislation, the Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act (H.R. 140), to prohibit federal employees from attempting to censor private speech, including on social media sites. The bill was approved by the full House on March 9, 2023.

"Notably, the censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story directly impacted voting results, according to a poll of Biden voters in seven swing states that found 17 percent of them would have switched their votes had they been aware of the story. Four years on, the Nation cannot afford a repeat of this scenario," continued Subcommittee Chairwoman Mace. "From the outset, your Administration has advertised its willingness to manipulate the content of social media sites. On July 5, 2021, then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated at a press briefing that the Administration was 'flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation,' and the next day clarified that the White House was in regular contact with social media companies to raise concerns about certain types of information on their platforms. The White House has not apologized for this activity or indicated that it would cease and desist from engaging in such behavior."

The deadline for President Biden and Vice President Harris to respond is September 23, 2024.

Read the full letter here.