Breaking: Jordan Releases ‘Smoking Gun Docs’ Confirming Facebook Bowed to White House Censorship Demands
Unredacted Facebook emails released by Rep. Jim Jordan today expose White House demands to quash narratives, and remove memes and posts contradicting the government’s COVID-19 messaging.
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Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) today released today a series of unredacted emails from Facebook, that he characterized as proof the White House and other federal agencies exerted pressure on the social media company to censor authors whose posts ran counter to the government’s official pandemic narrative.
The emails were provided by Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta to the House Judiciary Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government as part of its ongoing investigation.
The move forestalled the committee’s deliberations today about whether or not to hold Mark Zuckerberg in contempt for withholding requested documents.
In his lengthy Twitter thread, Jordan called the emails “smoking gun docs,” proving “Facebook and Instagram censored posts and changed their content moderation policies because of unconstitutional pressure from the Biden White House.”
The revelations lend support to allegations by plaintiffs in the Missouri et al. v. Biden et al. and Kennedy et al. v. Biden et al. lawsuits, which allege the Biden administration colluded with social media companies to abrogate free speech rights — not only by censoring content but by blocking the public’s right to access valid and accurate health information related to alternative COVID-19 treatments and the mRNA vaccines.
The two lawsuits were consolidated earlier this week by Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Monroe Division, who wrote:
“The issue of suppression of free speech by the government by coercing and/or significantly encouraging social media platforms is the same. Both cases involve the exact same Defendants and are pending in the same district and division before the same judge.”
Lawyers for Children’s Health Defense (CHD), a plaintiff in the Kennedy v. Biden class action suit, in April provided similar evidence in support of plaintiffs’ claims that key Biden administration officials and offices pressured social media to censor posts, including those by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CHD chairman on leave, and others who had been labeled members of the “Disinformation Dozen” by the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
Below is a selection of tweets from Jordan’s thread demonstrating what he called “tremendous pressure from the Biden White House — both publicly and privately — to crack down on alleged ‘misinformation’”:
What happened next? Facebook panicked.
In another April 2021 email, Brian Rice, Facebook’s VP of public policy, raised the concern that Slavitt’s challenge felt “very much like a crossroads for us with the [Biden] White House in these early days.” pic.twitter.com/9WafdltXuS
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 27, 2023
To appease the Biden White House, talking points were drafted for Clegg.
Facebook was ready to tell the White House that it had demoted a video posted by Tucker Carlson by 50% in response to the White House’s demands, even though the post didn’t violate any policies. pic.twitter.com/RPIBmivviM
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 27, 2023
August 2, 2021:
“[Facebook’s] Leadership asked Misinfo Policy . . . to brainstorm some additional policy levers we can pull to be more aggressive against . . . misinformation. This is stemming from the continued criticism of our approach from the [Biden] administration.” pic.twitter.com/bfNSeujQI7
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 27, 2023
The unredacted emails were provided to the committee “Only after it announced its intention to hold Mark Zuckerberg in contempt,” wrote Jordan, adding that after “Facebook’s newfound commitment to fully cooperate with the Committee’s investigation,” the committee would “hold contempt in abeyance. For now.”
Jordan began his Twitter thread with the words “The Facebook Files Part I,” in a nod to the “Twitter Files” and intimating more revelations to come.
Jordan’s email dump contradicts then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s claim in 2021 that “We [the Biden administration] don’t take anything down, we don’t block anything. Facebook and any private sector company makes [sic] decisions about what information should be on their platform.”
Judge Doughty, in his 155-page July 4 ruling in the Missouri v. Biden lawsuit, found the then-existing evidence so compelling, he said the plaintiffs were “likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment claim” against the “White House … FBI … CDC NIAID … CISA” and other defendants.
The ruling specifically mentioned Kennedy and CHD.
Doughty’s injunction barred members of the Biden administration and federal agencies from contacting social media companies in order to influence or coerce them into further censorship actions.
The injunction was temporarily stayed by the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after the Biden administration appealed. Oral arguments will be heard in the case on Aug. 10.
The Defender on occasion posts content related to Children’s Health Defense’s nonprofit mission that features Mr. Kennedy’s views on the issues CHD and The Defender regularly cover. In keeping with Federal Election Commission rules, this content does not represent an endorsement of Mr. Kennedy, who is on leave from CHD and is seeking the Democratic nomination for president of the U.S.
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