{"id":1899133,"date":"2023-03-16T10:42:30","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-ted-cruz-demands-answers-from-meta-google-and-tiktok-in-new-senate-probe\/"},"modified":"2023-03-16T10:51:44","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:51:44","slug":"exclusive-ted-cruz-demands-answers-from-meta-google-and-tiktok-in-new-senate-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-ted-cruz-demands-answers-from-meta-google-and-tiktok-in-new-senate-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Ted Cruz Demands Answers From Meta, Google, And TikTok In New Senate Probe"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-ted-cruz-demands-answers-from-meta-google-and-tiktok-in-new-senate-probe%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1899133&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz opened a Commerce Committee inquiry into Big Tech last month, as House Republicans investigate government influence over online speech platforms. Thursday&#8217;s visit by Ted Cruz to Texas saw him follow up with Silicon Valley&#8217;s main players to find out why their initial responses were not sufficient to congressional inquiries. <\/p>\n<p>Cruz, who is the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation&#8217;s ranking Member, initiated the GOP probe at the upper chamber with letters sent to Meta, Google, Twitter, and TikTok, requesting information on content regulation. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1701529577\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-57814d54f7b2366a16a449ee975f3da4 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-57814d54f7b2366a16a449ee975f3da4\"><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;As you are well aware, social media companies rely on algorithms to not only moderate content, but also to surface personalized recommendations to users,&#8221; Cruz wrote to the four tech titans. &#8220;Recommendation systems play an increasingly ubiquitous role in selecting content for individual consumption, including by promoting some content, using product design elements to prominently display recommendations, and downranking or filtering disfavored content and account.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Cruz emphasized Cruz&#8217;s concerns about addiction and the exposure to harmful material in particular. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At their best, recommendations help users discover interesting or relevant content that they might not otherwise find on a platform,&#8221; Cruz wrote. &#8220;However, recommendation systems can also fuel platform addiction by feeding users an essentially infinite stream of content. This can be especially dangerous when recommendations make it easier for vulnerable users, especially teenagers, to find objectively harmful content, such as content that promotes eating disorders and self-harm.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Fox News&#8217; Cruz assured viewers that an investigation would be launched into the revelations made in the &#8220;Twitter Files&#8221; This brought to light government collusion with Silicon Valley platforms. At their second hearing last Wednesday, the Select Weaponization Committee of the House Republicans signaled that they would be expanding their investigation into big technology.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4664db9fb070e395ae36f646fe4316cd fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4664db9fb070e395ae36f646fe4316cd\"><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;The Senate Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over about half the U.S. economy,&#8221; Cruz said. &#8220;We are going to take what Elon Musk has made public and use that as a roadmap to go after Facebook, to go after Google, to go after YouTube, to go after TikTok, to go after all of Big Tech that is trying to silence conservatives.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"HKnw8MB5D7yVvCleN3iFpmIJLOfqWz24scd1a9jkutUThgX6SPZoEGRrx0QY\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Today, as Ranking Member of The @SenateCommerce Committee, we opened an investigation into Big Tech censorship.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re going see transparency, accountability, and we&#8217;re going shine a spotlight on Big Techs attempts to silence conservatives. pic.twitter.com\/nfK6lCPhBI<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) February 14, 2023<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Cruz met with three of the four tech companies Thursday to demand that they comply with the congressional oversight requests from February 13. The Texas lawmaker sent additional letters to TikTok and Meta, as well as to Google, reprimanding the Silicon Valley leaders for failing answer 18 of the 20 questions. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The American people have a vested interest in the policies and practices that govern their speech on large social media platforms,&#8221; Cruz wrote to each company&#8217;s executive. &#8220;As content moderation has grown in both scale and complexity, the need for sunlight \u2014 particularly on politically-charged moderation questions \u2014 has become an imperative.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"scribd_iframe_embed\" title=\"2023.03.16 Sen. Cruz Letter to TikTok Re Responsiveness on Algorithms\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/631669102\/content?start_page=1&#038;view_mode=scroll&#038;access_key=key-V76QHUurc1aDoiEjS4ea\" tabindex=\"0\" data-auto-height=\"true\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.7729220222793488\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"   margin: 12px auto 6px auto;   font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;   font-style: normal;   font-variant: normal;   font-weight: normal;   font-size: 14px;   line-height: normal;   font-size-adjust: none;   font-stretch: normal;   -x-system-font: none;   display: block;\">2023.03.16 Sen. Cruz Letter\u2026 by The Federalist<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0b4af1aba3b1cece010e40674ab622f2 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0b4af1aba3b1cece010e40674ab622f2\"><\/div>\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"scribd_iframe_embed\" title=\"2023.03.16 Sen. Cruz Letter to Meta Re Responsiveness on Algorithms\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/631669267\/content?start_page=1&#038;view_mode=scroll&#038;access_key=key-dQhJ5JnqWBgoBePlCcYT\" tabindex=\"0\" data-auto-height=\"true\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.7729220222793488\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"   margin: 12px auto 6px auto;   font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;   font-style: normal;   font-variant: normal;   font-weight: normal;   font-size: 14px;   line-height: normal;   font-size-adjust: none;   font-stretch: normal;   -x-system-font: none;   display: block;\">2023.03.16 Sen. Cruz Letter\u2026 by The Federalist<\/p>\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"scribd_iframe_embed\" title=\"2023.03.16 Sen. Cruz Letter to Google Re Responsiveness on Algorithms\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/631669360\/content?start_page=1&#038;view_mode=scroll&#038;access_key=key-nl8Dt7oIneNZuZR8cWpE\" tabindex=\"0\" data-auto-height=\"true\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.7729220222793488\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"   margin: 12px auto 6px auto;   font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;   font-style: normal;   font-variant: normal;   font-weight: normal;   font-size: 14px;   line-height: normal;   font-size-adjust: none;   font-stretch: normal;   -x-system-font: none;   display: block;\">2023.03.16 Sen. Cruz Letter\u2026 by The Federalist<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-04564a706587c9390d21c9e63be3cfd3 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-04564a706587c9390d21c9e63be3cfd3\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\"> Tristan Justice is The Federalist&#8217;s western correspondent and author of Social Justice Redux. This conservative newsletter focuses on culture, wellness, and health. He has also been a writer for The Washington Examiner, and The Daily Signal. His work was also featured in Real Clear Politics, Fox News and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University, where he studied journalism and political science. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com. Subscribe to Tristan&#8217;s email list here.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">Big Tech<\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">Congress<\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">Google<\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">House of Representatives<\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">meta<\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">Senate<\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">Ted Cruz<\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">Texas<\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">TikTok<\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">Twitter<\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">Twitter Files<\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\">Weaponization Committee<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>&#8220;From <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/16\/exclusive-ted-cruz-demands-answers-from-meta-google-and-tiktok-in-new-senate-probe\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=exclusive-ted-cruz-demands-answers-from-meta-google-and-tiktok-in-new-senate-probe\">EXCLUSIVE Ted Cruz Asks For Answers From Meta, Google and TikTok In A New Senate Probe<\/a>&#8221;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11px\"><em>&#8220;The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author of the article and not necessarily shared or endorsed by Conservative News Daily&#8221;<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz launched a Commerce Committee investigation into Big Tech last month as House Republicans probe government influence over online speech platforms. On Thursday, the Texas senator followed up with Silicon Valley\u2019s major players to explain their initial responses to congressional inquiries were not adequate. Cruz, the ranking member of the Senate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":1899134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[6815,4105,4201,3725,6063,9276,4083,3740,6199,6248],"class_list":["post-1899133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-answers","tag-cruz","tag-demands","tag-exclusive","tag-google","tag-meta","tag-probe","tag-senate","tag-ted","tag-tiktok"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1899133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1899133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1899133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1899134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1899133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1899133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1899133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}