Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) released his third edition of the “Facebook Files,” saying the Biden administration pressured the social media giant to stifle speech the White House didn’t like, including limiting The Daily Wire’s reach on the platform and boosting the reach of legacy media outlets.
In a tweet thread Thursday, Jordan highlighted newly released documents obtained by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which he chairs. The documents, which were reviewed by The Daily Wire, show that Facebook repeatedly confirmed to the White House that it was working to re-engineer its platform in order to accomplish the administration’s directives on suppressing content that clashed with its COVID vaccine agenda.
“Newly subpoenaed internal notes of meetings between Facebook executives and Biden Admin officials reveal more about the lengths the Biden White House wanted to go to control true speech on Facebook,” Jordan began.
“In 2021, the White House wanted to control what narratives and true content was posted on Facebook surrounding [COVID-19],” the congressman said. “President Biden went so far to say that Facebook was ‘killing people‘ for allowing certain statements to be published on the site.”
THE FACEBOOK FILES PART 3.
Newly subpoenaed internal notes of meetings between Facebook executives and Biden Admin officials reveal more about the lengths the Biden White House wanted to go to control true speech on Facebook.
🧵 Thread: https://t.co/AeXrs1U8wr
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) August 3, 2023
“Rob Flaherty, President Biden’s then-Director of Digital Strategy, repeatedly put pressure on Facebook to explain its content decisions,” Jordan said.
“We have to explain to President, Ron, people, why there is misinfo on the internet…” Flaherty told Facebook employees during one meeting on April 14.
“For example, Flaherty questioned whether Facebook was doing enough to reduce traffic from sites like the [The New York Post],” Jordan said.
“I’m curious – NY Post churning out articles every day… What is supposed to happen to that from Policy perspective. Does that article get a reduction, labels?” Flaherty asked.
“But that wasn’t enough for the Biden White House. Flaherty wanted Facebook to go a step further,” Jordan added. “He wanted Facebook to kick people off its site.”
“The Biden White House’s effort to censor opposing viewpoints only grew,” said Jordan. “So, they upped the pressure. Flaherty demanded that Facebook ‘play ball’ and work with the Biden White House on censorship. But that’s not all. The Biden White House wanted to control what you saw on Facebook.”
They questioned whether Facebook could change its algorithm so users saw more posts from the New York Times and less from [The Daily Wire] and [Tomi Lahren],” Jordan said. “Why did they do that? Because they didn’t think you were smart enough to decide for yourself.”
“President Biden’s head of strategic communications and public engagement for the [COVID-19] response, Courtney Rowe, mocked Real America’s ability to determine what’s true and what isn’t,” Jordan added. “Facebook knew it had to act. One employee tried to explain to the White House that if the company couldn’t ‘remove’ content, it could at least ‘contain it.’ But Flaherty continued to press for more content moderation and CONTROL on so-called ‘bad’ content.
But Flaherty continued to press for more content moderation and CONTROL on so-called “bad” content.
Read ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/OpmcIktt0K
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) August 3, 2023
“And of course, Facebook caved. The company ADMITTED to the White House that it reduced content of certain posts – even if the posts didn’t violate the company’s terms and contained TRUE information,” Jordan said. “Just read this from a Facebook employee.”
Just read this from a Facebook employee. pic.twitter.com/IXMKmzAEvE
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) August 3, 2023
“These newly subpoenaed meeting notes continue to show the Biden White House’s desire to direct and control content on Facebook. More evidence of the censorship-industrial complex. To be continued…” Jordan concluded.