Columbia News

During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in Washington, Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) questioned technology company representatives about the Biden administration’s actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of the hearing was on whether the administration pressured major tech platforms to censor conservative voices and remove certain types of content.

The session, titled "Shut Your App: How Uncle Sam Jawboned Big Tech Into Silencing Americans, Part II," followed up on earlier hearings and a recent report that detailed how the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was used as a tool for government censorship.

Senator Schmitt addressed Markham Erickson, Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google, regarding search results related to former President Trump during the 2024 election. Schmitt stated: “Mr. Erickson. Let’s talk about search during the 2024 election. While Google search was an illegal monopoly, according to the court, it was repeatedly biased against President Trump. If you searched ‘where can I vote for Donald Trump’ Google showed nothing. Is that correct? You’re aware of this, right?”

Erickson responded: “Senator, I am not aware of that […] I can assure you there is no political manipulation of our search results.”

Schmitt continued by referencing search prompts leading up to the 2024 election: “I also want to ask you when you type in ‘President Donald’, Google would prompt you with ‘President Donald Duck’ or ‘President Donald Reagan’, not ‘President Trump’ in the lead up to the 2024 election. Is that just a coincidence?”

Erickson replied: “Senator, we are very proud that Google search is the most trusted platform for information.”

Schmitt criticized what he described as political bias in Google's search results and referenced communications between Google and White House officials. He said: “[Google] didn’t succumb to any pressure from the [Biden] White House to censor speech?”

Erickson answered: “Senator, when we get communications from the Biden administration or the Trump administration or any government entity around the world, our trust and safety teams apply our terms of service and guidelines independently.”

Schmitt then questioned decisions made by YouTube regarding bans on specific individuals such as Dan Bongino and RFK Jr., asking if those were independent decisions by Google. Erickson responded: “Senator, I am not familiar with those specifications.”

Schmitt moved on to Facebook’s actions during this period, questioning Neil Potts, Vice President of Public Policy at Meta. Schmitt referred to internal emails and public statements suggesting Facebook had acted under pressure from Biden administration officials.

He quoted Mark Zuckerberg's letter to Congressman Jim Jordan stating: “‘we were repeatedly pressured to censor certain COVID-19 content. The government pressure was wrong, and I regret we didn’t do more, and we weren’t more outspoken.’”

Potts confirmed Zuckerberg’s statement but clarified Meta's position: “That is correct.” He added nuance by saying: “Senator, if I can add a bit of nuance here — we felt pressure from the Biden administration. We ultimately made those decisions of our own volition. We have our policies; we made those decisions. In hindsight, would we have made different choices with all the information we have today? I’m sure we would make different choices.”

In closing remarks directed at Potts, Schmitt stated his view that Facebook had indeed been influenced by threats concerning Section 230 protections and possible investigations.