House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan set social media abuzz on Thursday as he dropped a bombshell revelation, releasing internal Meta documents that he claims provide damning evidence of the White House’s alleged interference in censoring posts on Facebook and Instagram.
According to a report from The Daily Wire, the move came after the Ohio Republican threatened to hold Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in contempt of Congress, a standoff that seemed to have prompted the disclosure of what Jordan dubbed as “The Facebook Files.”
In a series of posts that quickly gained traction on Twitter, which this week was re-branded under the name “X,” Jordan detailed the contents of the released documents, which he believes expose the Biden administration’s efforts to pressure social media giants into cracking down on content deemed to be “misinformation.”
With a nod to “The Twitter Files,” which also revealed bias in social media, Jordan presented screen shots of some of the documents that he deemed as “smoking-gun” proof.
The crux of Jordan’s argument revolves around alleged undue pressure exerted by the White House on Facebook and Instagram during the first half of 2021.
According to the documents, the Biden administration is said to have pressed the tech giants both publicly and privately to remove specific posts and modify their content moderation policies.
A crucial piece of evidence, as Jordan pointed out, was an email in April 2021, where a Facebook employee raised concerns over external pressure, including that from the Biden White House, to remove posts, the Daily Wire reported.
THE FACEBOOK FILES, PART 1: SMOKING-GUN DOCS PROVE FACEBOOK CENSORED AMERICANS BECAUSE OF BIDEN WHITE HOUSE PRESSURE
🧵 Thread:
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 27, 2023
In another email, Nick Clegg, Facebook’s president for global affairs, reportedly informed his team about a senior Biden adviser, Andy Slavitt, expressing outrage over a particular post that hadn’t been taken down.
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In another revelation from Jordan’s thread, Facebook was allegedly influenced to censor a meme related to COVID vaccines at the behest of the White House. Despite Facebook’s internal discussions about potential violations of free expression and First Amendment rights, the alleged pressure from the administration seemed to have spurred the platform into action.
What did the Biden White House want removed?
A meme.
That’s right, even memes weren’t spared from the Biden White House’s censorship efforts. pic.twitter.com/6BhDxTHsUi
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 27, 2023
Jordan didn’t stop there, citing more instances of what he deemed as undue White House interference. He brought up another situation in which Facebook had been asked why they hadn’t censored a video from journalist Tucker Carlson. In an effort to appease the Biden White House, Facebook reportedly prepared talking points to address the issue, even though the post didn’t violate any policies.
Public pressure from President Biden also played a role, with the commander-in-chief publicly criticizing Facebook and other social media platforms, accusing them of “killing people” by allegedly not doing enough to tackle “misinformation.”
The documents’ release has drawn sharp reactions from both sides of the political spectrum, with many calling for a thorough investigation into potential government overreach and its impact on freedom of expression.
While Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has yet to issue an official statement in response to Jordan’s thread, Twitter / X owner Elon Musk weighed in, expressing deep concern over the revelations.
Extremely concerning! https://t.co/0zve6dbaQl
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 27, 2023
“These documents, AND OTHERS that were just produced to the Committee, prove that the Biden Admin abused its powers to coerce Facebook into censoring Americans, preventing free and open discourse on issues of critical public importance,” Jordan wrote, according to Fox News.
He continued, “Only after the Committee announced its intention to hold Mark Zuckerberg in contempt did Facebook produce ANY internal documents to the Committee, including these documents, which PROVE that government pressure was directly responsible for censorship on Facebook.”
Jordan explained that, in light of Facebook’s “newfound commitment to fully cooperate” with the investigation, the committee is setting aside its pursuit of a contempt charge, “for now.”
“To be clear,” he added, “contempt is still on the table and WILL be used if Facebook fails to cooperate in FULL.”
He signed off with a hint of more details to come, saying, “To be continued…”
Fox reported that there was no response from Facebook or the White House to requests for comment.
