House Judiciary Subpoenas DOJ, FBI Over Social Media Moderation

The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed DOJ and the FBI Thursday for documents about any communication between the agency, private companies and third parties about social media content moderation. The committee issued the subpoenas in support of its censorship investigation. Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said the committee sought DOJ’s voluntary cooperation with oversight in April, but the agency’s compliance has been “woefully inadequate, producing only a single document: a publicly available transcript of a civil deposition of FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Elvis Chan from Missouri v. Biden.” Jordan said the committee uncovered evidence that contradicts Chan's testimony in the case on communication with social media platforms. DOJ and the FBI don't "censor content on social media platforms," the department said in a statement Thursday. "Private companies have the sole authority to make decisions to protect their platforms and users. As with all the Committee’s various requests, the Department remains committed to working with the Committee to fulfill their informational needs.”