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Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, speaks during a hearing on Oversight of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Rep. Jordan Shares Docs Showing Biden Admin Colluded with Facebook to Censor Americans

Steve Warren
07-28-2023

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U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) shared a lengthy thread to his Twitter audience Thursday with what he titled "The Facebook Files, Part 1: Smoking-gun documents prove Facebook censored Americans because of Biden White House pressure."

Jordan said the evidence was never-before- shared internal Meta documents that were subpoenaed by the Judiciary Committee. The Ohio congressman argues the documents prove Facebook and Instagram censored posts and also changed their content moderation policies, because they were being pressured by the White House.

The Ohio congressman said during the first half of 2021, social media companies faced extreme pressure from the White House, both publicly and privately to crack down on alleged "misinformation." 

slider img 2"In April 2021, a Facebook employee circulated an email for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, writing: 'We are facing continued pressure from external stakeholders, including the {Biden} White House' to remove posts," Jordan wrote, attaching the document. 

Jordan also shared another email from Nick Clegg, Facebook's president for global affairs in which he "informed his team at Facebook that Andy Slavitt, a Senior Advisor to President Biden, was 'outraged . . . that {Facebook} did not remove' a particular post."

"What did the Biden White House want removed?" Jordan asked. "A meme. That's right, even memes weren't spared from the Biden White House's censorship efforts." 

Jordan also attached the offending meme. 

"When Clegg 'countered that removing content like that would represent a significant incursion into traditional boundaries of free expression in the US,' Slavitt disregarded the warning and the First Amendment," the Ohio congressman wrote. 

"What happened next? Facebook panicked," Jordan wrote. "Facebook panicked."

"In another April 2021 email, Brian Rice, Facebook's VP of public policy, raised the concern that Slavitt's challenge felt 'very much like a crossroads for us with the {Biden} White House in these early days,'" he continued. 

"But Facebook wanted to repair its relationship with the White House to avoid adverse action," Jordan noted. "Given what is at stake here, it would also be a good idea if we could regroup and take stock of where we are in our relations with the {White House}, and our internal methods too."

"This wasn't the first time that the Biden White House was angry that Facebook didn't censor more," the Ohio Republican continued. " According to these documents, the Biden White House demanded to know why Facebook had not censored a video from @TuckerCarlson. So, Facebook prepped its response."

"To appease the Biden White House, talking points were drafted for Clegg," Jordan wrote. "Facebook was ready to tell the White House that it had demoted a video posted by Tucker Carlson by 50% in response to the White House's demands, even though the post didn't violate any policies."

"Public pressure mounted as well. In July 2021, President Biden publicly denounced Facebook and other social media platforms, claiming they were 'killing people' by not censoring alleged 'misinformation,'" Jordan continued. 

"On August 2, 2021, Facebook admitted it was going to change its policies because of pressure from the Biden White House," he wrote. 

August 2, 2021: 

"{Facebook's} Leadership asked Misinfo Policy . . . to brainstorm some additional policy levers we can pull to be more aggressive against . . . misinformation. This is stemming from the continued criticism of our approach from the {Biden} administration," Jordan wrote. 

"But it wasn't just the White House," Jordan explained. "Facebook also changed its policies in direct response to pressure from Biden's Surgeon General, censoring members of the 'disinformation dozen.'"

Jordan wrote, "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."

"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," the Ohio congressman continued. 

Jordan also issued a warning to Facebook officials. 

"Based on Facebook's newfound commitment to fully cooperate with the Committee's investigation, the Committee has decided to hold contempt in abeyance. For now," he noted. "To be clear, contempt is still on the table and WILL be used if Facebook fails to cooperate in FULL."

"To be continued…," Jordan concluded his thread.  So far, the series of tweets has received more than 24 million views. 

Federal Judge Says U.S. Government Assumed Role Similar to an Orwellian 'Ministry of Truth'

As CBN News reported earlier this month, a federal court in Louisiana handed down a major temporary ruling in a lawsuit that has been called "a blow to censorship" in the fight over free speech online. 

U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty issued a 155-page preliminary injunction forbidding several officials of the Biden administration and federal agencies from communicating with social media companies over what people can say online.

Doughty said the Biden administration likely violated the First Amendment by censoring some viewpoints in online posts.

The Trump-appointed judge issued the decision in the lawsuit brought in 2022 by Republican attorneys general in Missouri and Louisiana, arguing the administration and social media companies had worked together to censor speech mainly during the pandemic involving vaccines, elections, criticizing the government, and other subjects.

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Doughty cited "substantial evidence" of a far-reaching censorship campaign. He wrote that the "evidence produced thus far depicts an almost dystopian scenario. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian 'Ministry of Truth.'"

The judge's ruling listed several government agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the FBI, that are prohibited by the injunction from discussions with social media companies aimed at "encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech."

The order mentions by name several Biden administration officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and others. 

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About The Author

Steve Warren is a senior multimedia producer for CBN News. Warren has worked in the news departments of television stations and cable networks across the country. In addition, he also worked as a producer-director in television production and on-air promotion. A Civil War historian, he authored the book The Second Battle of Cabin Creek: Brilliant Victory. It was the companion book to the television documentary titled Last Raid at Cabin Creek currently streaming on Amazon Prime. He holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in Communication from the University of
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