No Plans to Censor Social Media to Prevent Bank Runs, Government Corporation Says

FDIC representatives Luis Mayorga (L) and Igor Fayermark assure Silicon Valley Bank customers that their money is available before the opening of a branch at SVBs headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., on March 13, 2023. Noah Berger/AFP via Getty Images

A U.S. banking corporation said March 14 it has not tried to have social media users censored, and doesn’t have any plans to moving forward.

“We have not, would not, and will not,” Brian Sullivan, a spokesman for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), told The Epoch Times via email.

FDIC representatives, along with officials with the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve, were asked in a Monday briefing with members of Congress whether they had a program in place “to censor information on social media that could lead to a run on the banks,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who was in the Zoom briefing, said on Twitter.

The member “asked if we had a good program to censor this stuff at social media, to censor information so there wouldn’t be a run on the banks,” Massie added during an appearance on Fox News. “The problem is he didn’t say he wanted to censor false information or foreign information, he kind of left it open-ended. And I mean, that’s chilling to me.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said that a member asked officials if they were contacting Facebook and Twitter “to monitor misinformation and ‘bad actors.’”

Republicans identified the member as Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).

A spokesperson for Kelly confirmed that Kelly asked a question during the briefing.

The senator “asked about *foreign adversaries* potentially trying to take advantage of this situation by spreading misinformation,” the spokesperson told the Daily Caller.

Kelly’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) told Public that Kelly “asked on last night’s zoom call whether the call hosts (at Treasury, FDIC, etc) were interacting with SM platforms and on the lookout for foreign influence that might promote bank runs.”

Spokespersons for the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve did not respond to requests for comment.

U.S. government officials across the Biden and Trump administrations have pressured social media companies to suppress social media posts and users, including posts that allegedly contain COVID-19 misinformation, documents released through lawsuits show.

The briefing with legislators took place after President Joe Biden’s administration announced a plan to cover money deposited in Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which ran out of funds this week.

The Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department, and the FDIC said in a joint statement that it was moving to “fully protect” all depositors, regardless of whether they were insured.

“These actions will reduce stress across the financial system, support financial stability and minimize any impact on businesses, households, taxpayers, and the broader economy,” the entities said.

House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) said that the rush to get deposits out of the banks was a “Twitter-fueled bank run.” A spokesperson told Public that McHenry was not advocating for social media censorship.