The Arizona state House is set to launch a probe into allegations of collusion between Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter, amid a controversy surrounding her attempts to censor critics.
This investigation comes on the heels of the release of emails from Hobbs, which have raised questions about her impartiality and the use of government resources for political purposes.
“Fighting for the First Amendment is an American’s highest calling. With this new committee, I am excited to have the opportunity to do so on behalf of the people of Arizona,” state Rep. Alexander Kolodin, who will chair the committee, said in a statement, Just the News reported.
State Rep. Neal Carter, a San Tan Valley Republican, will serve as a committee member, while Democratic participation has not yet been announced. The inaugural session, set for Sept. 5 at the state capitol, will feature insights from “leading experts” on free speech law.
The controversy began when it was revealed that Hobbs, during her tenure as a member of the state legislature in August 2017, had posted a tweet comparing supporters of then-President Donald Trump to Nazis, according to Arizona Capitol Oversight.
The tweet, which read, “@realDonaldTrump has made it abundantly clear he’s more interested in pandering to his neo-nazi base than being @POTUS for all Americans,” sparked backlash when it resurfaced in 2020.
.@realDonaldTrump has made it abundantly clear he’s more interested in pandering to his neo-nazi base than being @POTUS for all Americans.
— Katie Hobbs (@katiehobbs) August 15, 2017
Critics questioned Hobbs’s ability to maintain impartiality in her role as Arizona’s Secretary of State, a position she assumed in 2019 after winning the election in 2018.
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Arizona Capitol Oversight, a government transparency and accountability website, in its explosive 8-page report, detailed how Hobbs had engaged in “an extensive and sustained campaign” to censor her critics, including the Arizona Republican Party and a state lawmaker responsible for oversight of her department.
According to the ACO report, many of the takedown requests made by Hobbs’s office were unrelated to public safety, governance, or election administration. Instead they reportedly aimed to stifle criticism and bolster her political image in preparation for her gubernatorial campaign.
The most damning evidence presented in the report included emails in which Hobbs, using her government email address, requested that Twitter censor her critics.
In one email from November 2020, Hobbs asked Twitter to take action against her “alt-right” critics, prompting Twitter to request more information and specific examples.
In response, Hobbs expressed frustration, stating, “I am not sure I can provide the information you are asking for because I reported and then blocked multiple users at the same time.”
She accused “the alt-right” of having obtained a three-year-old tweet from her account and having sent “harassing, abusive, and threatening tweets and direct messages for the last 2 days.”
🚨 TODAY 🚨@katiehobbs & @Stephen_Richer worked with the Federal Government & Big Tech to censor free speech & interfere with our midterm elections.@AZHouseGOP Ad Hoc Committee On Oversight, Accountability & Big Tech are discussing solutions to ensure it NEVER happens again. pic.twitter.com/HBXuQFiegP
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) September 5, 2023
ACO managed to identify the “three-year-old tweet” Hobbs mentioned in her email to Twitter through a mistake by her long-time communications director, Murphy Hebert.
Hebert mistakenly requested that Facebook delete Hobbs’s 2017 tweet, which contained the controversial comparison to neo-Nazis.
Additionally, it was revealed that Hobbs’s team used an official government email address in August 2022, during her gubernatorial campaign, to request the censorship of a tweet from the Arizona GOP that criticized her job performance, according to The Tennessee Star.
Hobbs also attempted to suppress criticism related to the use of Sharpie brand markers on ballots during the 2020 election.
Her staff contacted the National Association of Secretaries of State to request a broader censorship tool from Facebook and Twitter to address the Sharpie-related posts, which NASS suggested should be reported to the Center for Internet Security.
Facebook complied by making the hashtag “unclickable” and adding warning labels to related content, according to ACO’s report.
Furthermore, Hobbs’s team reported posts critical of her to Facebook’s misinformation team, although Facebook determined that these posts did not violate its Community Guidelines.
Hobbs, who has denied any wrongdoing, recently dismissed the allegations during an interview with local radio station KJZZ, describing them as a “sideshow.”
