Mark Zuckerberg to be Held in Contempt of Congress?

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is considering holding Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in contempt of Congress.

Fox Business reported the decision to hold Zuckerberg in contempt could happen as early as next week.

Sources told the outlet it’s related to Zuckerberg not providing internal communications regarding the company’s “censorship efforts.”

“Given that Meta has censored First Amendment-protected speech as a result of government agencies’ requests and demands in the past…the committee is concerned about potential First Amendment violations that have occurred or will occur on the Threads platform,” a letter Jim Jordan sent to Mark Zuckerberg read.

“Are you really gonna move forward on this,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked Jordan.

“If he doesn’t give us the information, we will,” Jordan replied.

WATCH:

Congressman Jim Jordan is threatening to hold Mark Zuckerberg in contempt of Congress for refusing to provide information regarding concerns over First Amendment violations that have occurred or will occurred on Threads. pic.twitter.com/2zgtmASr3c

— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) July 18, 2023

Fox Business reports:

After Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in January, the Judiciary Committee – led by Jordan – officially issued Meta a subpoena for censorship documentation in February of this year.

In May, Jordan followed up with Meta to warn that the company’s response was insufficient, failing to comply with the subpoena request for internal communications among Meta employees.

In the letter, Jordan wrote, “Meta’s rolling productions to date have not included material the Committee knows is, or has reason to believe may be, in the company’s possession and that is responsive to the subpoena […] If Meta fails to comply in full with the subpoena’s demands, the Committee may be forced to consider the use of one or more enforcement mechanisms.”

Specifically, Jordan has requested Meta turn over any documents that include “internal meeting notes or discussions of government statements, requests, referrals, or recommendations related to content moderation, including certain documents commemorating findings and/or recommendations regarding whether to apply enforcement actions to purported disinformation.”

A Meta spokesperson, when reached for comment by FOX Business, stated in response, “We have shared over 50,000 pages of documents in response to the committee’s request and have made nearly a dozen current and former employees available to discuss external and internal issues. We look forward to continuing to work with the committee moving forward.”

“Is Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘Threads’ already working with the federal government to censor Americans?” Jordan asked.

Is Mark Zuckerberg’s “Threads” already working with the federal government to censor Americans? pic.twitter.com/OdQeq1mCHQ

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 17, 2023