Attorney General Jeff Session will meet with various state attorneys general this month to discuss growing concern that social networking giants are “intentionally stifling” freedom of expression, according to the Department of Justice.
“The Attorney General has convened a meeting with a number of state attorneys general this month to discuss a growing concern that these companies may be hurting competition and intentionally stifling the free exchange of ideas on their platforms,” said Justice Department spokesman Devin O’Malley.
The announcement was made as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on foreign meddling during the 2016 presidential election. Republican lawmakers, including GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy, have repeatedly accused social media giants of censoring conservative viewpoints. “It is impossible to ignore the fact that only one party is being slammed by this censorship, over and over again,” McCarthy in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News. “When only one side is doing the talking, you don’t call it a dialogue. You call it a lecture.”
Facebook and Twitter have not issued a statement on the matter at this time.
Last week, the White House said it will weigh imposing regulations on Google after President Donald Trump accused the Silicon Valley giant of intentionally displaying negative news about his administration in its search results. Speaking before reporters, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said the federal government is “taking a look at” slapping new rules on Google.
In a pair of tweets last Tuesday, President Trump lambasted Google, describing the company’s search engine as “rigged,” to display “reporting of Fake News Media.”
“Google search results for “Trump News” shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal?” the president tweeted.
“96% of results on “Trump News” are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good.”
“They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!” he warned.
Addressing the issue of censorship in an August interview with Reuters, the president said it is a “dangerous thing” for social media platforms to bar accounts. “I won’t mention names but when they take certain people off of Twitter or Facebook and they’re making that decision, that is really a dangerous thing because that could be you tomorrow,” President Trump told the news outlet. “I think it’s a very dangerous thing when they are their own regulator in terms of who’s going to be on Facebook and who’s going to be on Twitter. I think that whether it’s conservative or liberal, I think that it’s very dangerous.”
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