The executives of five major technology corporations were subpoenaed on Wednesday by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH).
According to a news statement from Jordan’s office, the subpoenas seek “records and correspondence relevant to the federal government’s purported cooperation with Big Tech to restrict free expression.”
Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft have all had their CEOs served with subpoenas.
Since last December, when first contact with the five corporations was initiated, the House Judiciary Committee has made many attempts to establish further communication with them. The press statement lamented that “the corporations have not sufficiently responded to our requirements.”
Despite the widespread use of social media, Twitter was not included in the list of entities served with subpoenas. And Twitter “established a bar for how candid Big Tech corporations may be about dealings with the government about censorship,” as Jordan writes.
The Twitter Files “have shown how Big Tech and the federal government have worked for hand in hand in ways that threaten First Amendment values,” says Jordan. The federal government’s ability to ban internet expression has been weaponized, according to “several internal papers from Twitter.”
The deadline was set on March 23 by Jordan, who is also in charge of the new House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
Subpoenas are “Step one towards accountability,” he stated.
The Daily Wire tried to get a reaction from Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft about the subpoenas.
“We have started supplying papers, are engaged with the Committee, and are committed to working in good faith,” stated a Microsoft representative.
Google, a part of Alphabet, is led by CEO Sundar Pichai. The CEO of Amazon is Andy Jassy. Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook and current CEO of Meta, also created the site. Apple’s current CEO is named Tim Cook. Microsoft is led by Satya Nadella, who also serves as CEO and chairman.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the leading member of the House Judiciary Committee, was also contacted by The Daily Wire for comment.