California Congressman and would-be Senator Adam Schiff (pictured above) gathered seven of his Democratic colleagues and penned a letter last week to the CEOs of all the major social media platforms – Meta, X, TikTok, Google, Instagram, Snap, YouTube and Microsoft – demanding details on their "election integrity" efforts and the punishment they intend to inflict on users they deem are spreading "misinformation" or "disinformation."
"We continue to be concerned with each of your companies' ability to react efficiently and effectively to misinformation and disinformation, or to any potential incitement of violence occurring on your platforms," says the letter, adding: "Even more concerning is the fact that most of your companies have cut their trust and safety teams, sometimes entirely, and have terminated employees handling election integrity."
The letter is signed by Reps. Schiff, Hank Johnson, Doris Matsui, Dan Goldman and others.
AFN spoke with Dan Schneider of Media Research Center, who argues the letter has the feel of an offer Big Social can't refuse. "There's always a threat – and it's not even a veiled threat," he stated. "It's You better do this or else we are going to harm you. We're going to penalize you. We're going to make you feel pain."
Schneider pointed out the signatories to the letter don't bother to define "misinformation" and "disinformation" – but in their minds, he claimed, it's a simple definition: "They do not like dissent. They do not like the First Amendment. They do not like people expressing views that they disagree with."
While they don't define the terms, the lawmakers do offer suggestions on how the platforms could best demonstrate their commitment to election integrity: i.e., don't post videos that deny the 2020 election results; do not permit political ads that claim stolen elections; and ban Donald Trump's account on grounds he violated community standards.
"After witnessing the role that false or misleading content can play in our elections, we know our country cannot afford to have platforms backslide on their promises," the letter adds.
Schneider said coming from members of Congress, the demands are clearly unconstitutional. "This is what the whole First Amendment is about: protecting our free speech rights from government abuse," he stated. "But this is now what the Left sees as their sacred altar."
The letter concludes with five questions posed by the lawmakers, this being the last:
"Will your company commit to keeping these election integrity plans in place indefinitely and keeping Congress fully informed about potential changes?"
Media Research Center says that question specifically suggests "coordination" between government and social media.
