Big Tech and Government Collusion Has Created ‘Censorship Industrial Complex,’ Republicans Say

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in Washington on Feb. 1, 2023. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

House Republicans said in a March 30 hearing said that collusion between Big Tech and the government amounts to a “censorship industrial complex.”

The hearing, the second round for Republicans’ Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, featured witnesses including Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, and D. John Sauer, former Missouri deputy attorney general for special litigation.

The men appeared before the panel to discuss their findings in Louisiana and Missouri v. Biden, a case they brought to the U.S. Supreme Court involving a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. During discovery for the case, which the court denied certiorari, the lawsuit discovered more proof of government censorship on social media platforms.

“Evidence [from the lawsuit] shows the need for this committee’s work investigating the censorship industrial complex,” Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said. “The federal government is at fault, but it shouldn’t be able to use nongovernment actors on its behalf to advance censorship.”

Last year, billionaire Elon Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion.

Following his takeover of the company, Musk released a trove of documents demonstrating collusion between Twitter’s former owners and the federal government. The two colluded to suppress certain political positions or stories, including opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine, facts about the vaccine’s dwindling effectiveness and dubious safety, and others.

“Big Tech has all too often colluded with the government to facilitate the censorship agenda,” Jordan said. “In this country, the government does not get to pick what viewpoints are right, what issues we discuss, or what we believe. But that’s exactly what the White House, CDC, and FBI have done.”

Schmitt’s preparatory materials to the panel described “a vast censorship enterprise” driven by government and tech collusion to suppress certain narratives or positions. Jordan cited this comment, telling the panel that he had sent out additional requests for info in light of the discovery findings.

‘Malinformation’

Jordan said that government agencies are no longer only targeting so-called “misinformation” or “disinformation,” but are also targeting “malinformation.”

According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), there are three categories of untrue information.

CISA describes misinformation as “false, but not created or shared with the intention of causing harm.” Disinformation describes intentionally misleading or false information with the goal of causing harm. Malinformation, by contrast, describes information that is true but judged to be “used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.”

“That is the most dangerous and frightening thing of all,” Jordan said, saying “malinformation” is too broad a category.

“Censorship isn’t about truth—it’s about power,” Jordan added.