Republicans Subpoena Head of CDC Over Big Tech Censorship Coordination

U.S. House Subpoenas Biden Officials Over Big Tech Censorship

The U.S. House of Representatives has subpoenaed several top Biden administration officials, including the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over the administration’s coordination with Big Tech to censor users.

Subpoenaed Officials

• CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky
• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly
• James Rubin, an official at the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC)

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent the subpoenas on April 28. All three have responded inadequately to requests to provide documents, including communications between their respective entities and social media platforms, Jordan said in letters accompanying the subpoenas. CISA and GEC have not responded at all to the requests, while the CDC has not provided any of the requested documents, he said.

“Freedom of speech is one of the most important rights we have in this country,” Jordan told the Washington Examiner. “The collusion between our federal government and Big Tech undermines First Amendment principles and should be investigated.”

The CDC and GEC did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, CISA’s parent agency, said that the department “does not censor speech and does not request that content be taken down by social media companies.”

Collusion with Big Tech

Jordan is working with the Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government to probe issues “related to the violation of the civil liberties of citizens of the United States.”

Documents brought to light by reporters who were given access to Twitter’s internal files and produced in a lawsuit filed by several states against the federal government have shown officials were regularly in contact with Twitter and other Big Tech companies on alleged mis- and disinformation, including making requests to crack down on specific users.

The CDC, for example, sent specific posts to Twitter and Facebook, while also adjudicating claims about COVID-19. While doing so, the CDC offered false information about vaccine effectiveness.

CISA official Brian Scully, meanwhile, said in a deposition that officials would route concerning social media posts to Big Tech, with an understanding that the companies would apply their own censorship policies.

The collusion between the federal government and Big Tech is a serious threat to our First Amendment rights. It’s important that we hold our government officials accountable for their actions and protect our freedom of speech.