U.S. House Judiciary Committee Subpoenas Apple for Info on Alleged Free Speech Suppression

[ponzicoinbro]

These new GOP led investigations will soon subpoena scientists who said the world is round and that humans evolved over millions of years.

This is the clown show we are seeing.

Nut case conspiracy theorists and religious fruit cakes who claim they are being suppressed when they have been doing nothing but nonsense for thousands of years without anyone suppressing them.

 

[StudioMacs]

Politics aside, Apple doesn’t have a social media site or a search engine. What speech are they suppressing? Same with Amazon I guess.

I would guess it's related to Apple removing a "popular" social media app (after several warnings) under the grounds that it violated Apple's App Store policy due to lacking content moderation.

 

[StellarVixen]

All tigers are cats but not all cats are tigers. Hate speech (tigers) is a class of free speech (cats; although a better term is protected speech) that but there is free speech that is not hate speech. Saying there is no difference between the two isn't particularly accurate.

Free speech is Felidae, hate speech is tiger or any member of Felidae if we are talking about cats, therefore hate speech is free speech.

 

[obviouslogic]

Smh. Someone needs to inform Jordan that as a PRIVATE COMPANY Twitter can ban, delete and censor at will and his rights to free speech aren't being violated

True. But the issue is whether it was at the request of a government official, which is illegal… like the Trump administration apparently did over and over again as these committees keep surfacing. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

 

[sw1tcher]

Because Parler didn’t comply with the terms of the App Store. By the way, how is that a government suppression of free speech issue?

It goes back to why the House Judiciary Committee/Jim Jordan is running this investigation

U.S. House Judiciary Committee Republicans plan to investigate whether the federal government "colluded" with tech companies to "suppress free speech" on issues like COVID-19. Republican lawmakers have long suggested that social networks and tech companies engage in anti-conservative bias by suppressing conservative voices.

Republicans probably believe the govt "colluded" with Apple to pull the Parler app and suppress their free speech

 

[GermanSuplex]

Gym’s first committee or two were pretty much useless, so much so even Republican talking heads were asking “where’s the beef?”.

These committee hearings have devolved into chances for members to grandstand and score points, and little else.

 

[wyarp]

Not just 'breaking news' it's 'HUGE BREAKING NEWS'... 🤦‍♂️

 

[siddavis]

I think the important part of your statement is the "compelling" part. Now if the government infringed on a business interest and compelled it to do something under threat of prosecution that would be a violation. None of that is alleged.

A government agency asking for something to be removed and citing the TOS of the company is not a violation as long as it wasn't intertwined with a threat of governmental enforcement.

I think its clear both if not all political parties within government have made these requests to social media platforms.

None of that is alleged? It is the whole stated purpose of the subpoena. "...for documents and communications relating to the federal government's reported collusion with Big Tech to suppress free speech.

Also, you say that last sentence as if I give a crap which party within government is making requests. Nope, I despise all who use their power to actively subvert the constitution.

 

[siddavis]

Big tech companies cannot suppress free speech in the Constitutional sense because they are not government entities.

Sorry, but this has been stated sooooo many times already that I think the reading comprehension is severely lacking. Go back and read.

 

[poorcody]

Not just 'breaking news' it's 'HUGE BREAKING NEWS'... 🤦‍♂️

Yeah, that caught my eye too -- from an official government twitter account nonetheless. It is so embarrassing being an American these days...

 

[obviouslogic]

as much as I hate to say this, hate speech is protected by the first . and yes I don't agree with it but thats the reality. just like vulgar etc.

There are many exceptions to free speech, one of which is anything that incites violence or making harmful threats against someone or group of people that are reasonably enactable. Both of these are usually a major part of what “hate speech” is.

 

[Speed38]

When you vote for morons, you get morons. Pretty much the rule for all peoples.

What must be the average IQ of the voters who sent this moron to Congress?

 

[MacWiz_007]

That logo is atrocious.

Yeah, Ive probably designed it!

 

[richpjr]

What a waste of our resources. We could be investing in better care and protections for veterans, crafting legislation to prevent using AI for abusive practices, introducing better consumer protections, and so much more.

Did you have this same reaction when Democrats had a majority in Congress and were doing the same thing?

 

[siddavis]

There are many exceptions to free speech, one of which is anything that incites violence or making harmful threats against someone or group of people that are reasonably enactable. Both of these are usually a major part of what “hate speech” is.

No, those are examples of speech that incites violence or threats against someone or a group of people. Adding a euphemism that shouldn't apply doesn't make those things extra special illegal.

 

[vipergts2207]

It applies to the government subverting the 1st by compelling private companies to do their dirty work.

Present some instances where the government forced companies to silence free speech?

 

[MacWiz_007]

Did you have this same reaction when Democrats had a majority in Congress and were doing the same thing?

Of course they didn't. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds. Look, they all waste time and tax payer money, period.

 

[siddavis]

Present some instances where the government forced companies to silence free speech?

It's the basis of the subpoena, so perhaps this oversight will provide some answers (doubt it).

Other than that, have you been a sentient human being the past 3 years?

 

[tharitm]

I'm surprised Twitter, TikTok and TruthSocial are not included in this list.

 

[sw1tcher]

What must be the average IQ of the voters who sent this moron to Congress?

Wait. Are we still talking about Jim Jordan or has the conversation topic changed to Rep. George Santos?

 

[drumcat]

Ohio looks like Chernobyl, but Gym wants his TV moment.

 

[MrGIS]

The big tech companies are not showing a strong biased against the one political side of the fence or the other. They are however demonstrating leadership by not promoting, and therefore impeding Trumpism and other degenerate behaviour. The US needs to take a long hard look at itself in the mirror and decide what kind of society wants to be. From this Canadian's perspective, the Republican party has lost it's way, and any effort to curb the way things have gone since 2016 is welcome. Maybe Nikki Haley will be your saviour..

 

[Tagbert]

It applies to the government subverting the 1st by compelling private companies to do their dirty work.

And per the evidence that the committee has uncovered, the Biden administration has not pressured Twitter to ban speech but the Trump administration did.

 

[brucewayne]

Subpoenas for documents and communications were sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Curiously, the panel left out Twitter CEO Elon Musk despite the fact that Twitter is one of the most popular social networks.

Why would you subpoena Musk/Twitter when they have been dumping the bag for more than 2 months now?

Funny how it wasn't a partisan politics or a waste of resources to spend 6 years and millions of dollars to investigate Trump and come up empty handed

 

[brucewayne]

And per the evidence that the committee has uncovered, the Biden administration has not pressured Twitter to ban speech but the Trump administration did.

Have you paid attention to anything that has come out of the twitter files?