Seven House Republicans on Wednesday signed a pledge stating they would not accept political donations from Big Tech companies, their Political Action Committees, or their executive employees.
The “Pledge for America,” launched by Congressman Ken Buck (R-CO), specifically cites Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, and Twitter as companies that have a “monopoly” on various markets. Other pledge co-signers include Chip Roy (R-TX), Greg Steube (R-FL), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Burgess Owens (R-UT), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ).
According to the pledge, “each one of these companies has used their monopoly power to stifle innovation and destroy competitors.”
One of the main issues the coalition has with the Big Tech companies is their “unprecedented actions to silence political speech they disagree with.” The congressmen cited various examples including YouTube deleting conservative channels, Twitter and Facebook permanently banning former President Donald Trump from their platforms, Amazon booting Parler from its web hosting services, and Google and Apple pulling the Parler app from their mobile stores.
“As conservatives, we firmly believe in the free market and the free exchange of ideas. We will not continue to accept donations from companies who violate those convictions,” the pledge states, later noting: “The threat posed by these monopolies is a real and present danger to conservatives, libertarians, and anyone who does not agree with these corporations’ ultra-liberal points of view.”
According to The New York Times, four of the seven congressmen previously received political donations from Big Tech PACs.
“Representatives Chip Roy of Texas, Gregory Steube of Florida and Andy Biggs of Arizona received a combined $3,500 in donations. Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina (not Oklahoma, as previously reported here) received $1,000 from Amazon’s political committee,” the Times reported.
Even without the pledge, it is highly unlikely Big Tech companies would have sent donations to the representatives. Many of those corporations put a freeze on donations to those who objected to certifying the election results on January 6, CNBC reported. Congressmen Steube, Norman, Bishop, Owens, and Biggs voted against certifying the results in favor of President Joe Biden.