Facebook Files 3 – winners and losers

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, released a third thread describing how Facebook played State actor. But he did more than that. He also announced a new investigation of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). This is the government-allied nongovernmental organization (NGO) that X Corp. (formerly Twitter) is suing for chasing away its advertisers. In short, Jim Jordan has launched an all-out counterattack against the Biden administration and its for-profit and non-profit allies.

Facebook Files thus far

Facebook has long had a reputation for censoring content with which it, and those with whom it curries favor, disagree. The influencer “Name Redacted” on Platform X (formerly Twitter) treated that subject last December. Then, one week ago, Rep. Jordan began releasing emails and other documents his Committee had obtained by subpoena. He released one trove of documents on July 27 and another on July 28.

Lovers of liberty have known, since The Intercept released a piece it titled “Thought Cops,” that Facebook gave the government their own secure portal for reporting content they wanted stricken, hidden, or otherwise suppressed. That portal remains active, and CNAV submitted it to the Wayback Machine for archiving.

Facebook continues to remove content, or mask it with labels proclaiming it false or misleading. Thus Facebook is not a safe platform for those who value their liberty to use. If a telephony provider were ever to do the same thing, today it would lose business. Back when AT&T had a monopoly on telephony, they might have seen an antitrust lawsuit far earlier than they did. Indeed telephone providers never withhold service on any ground other than nonpayment of a bill. Even makers of annoyance calls do not lose telephone service over such activity – though they might face fines, imprisonment or both.

But Facebook decided to play “Me Too with the Bully” with the government. And now that he is Chairman, and not Ranking Member, Jim Jordan is determined to stop it.

Latest thread

Herewith Rep. Jordan’s latest thread on the Facebook matter:

Reaction to this thread includes some skepticism, borne of the observation that Republicans have never before taken aggressive action commensurate with the aggressiveness Democrats commonly show.

One user linked to a Forbes article showing that Facebook executives commonly contribute millions of dollars – to Democrats.

But this time Rep. Jordan surprised everyone. Three hours after dropping the third Facebook Files thread, he released this statement:

This post embeds photographs of this letter Jordan wrote to Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH.

The letter clearly shows a tie between the Facebook investigation and the CCDH investigation. Jordan also named Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., candidate for President and Member of the “Disinformation Dozen.” (See also here.)

Jordan isn’t joking. He demanded all communications, from January 1, 2015 onwards, between CCDH and:

1. The Executive Branch of the U.S. government,
2. Any social media platform(s).

He also demanded lists of CCDH staff who have communicated with the above classes of entities, and a list of government “grants, contracts, and … funds” relating to CCDH’s apparent censorship mission.

Reaction to his announcement was swift, including from Americas First Legal and journalist Kristen Ruby.

Aside from the above came a mixture of cheers, calls for more action – and catcalls from censorship sympathizers.

Rep. Jordan also shared a link to an article in The Washington Examiner covering his widened investigation.

Analysis

Congress is currently in recess, so one might wonder what Rep. Jordan hopes to accomplish with his Facebook Files. He is either laying a foundation for Congressional hearings when Congress reconvenes, or wishes to give that impression.

His Facebook revelations tell us little we didn’t already know. But opening an inverstigation into CCDH is another matter altogether. Recall that Elon Musk is suing that organization for sending “woke messages” to advertisers to stay away. This after Elon bought the old Twitter and not only restored many accounts but also rescinded some key moderation policies. CCDH took exception to that and started a scare campaign against the platform.

Will Chairman Jordan investigate the allegations in X Corp’s lawsuit against CCDH? He might not want to complicate X’ case against that organization. But he’s already taken evidence from one of their key targets: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. That worthy appeared before the Weaponization Subcommittee, two weeks ago.

All these are only first steps. Jordan needs to have executives and Trust and Safety Officers from Facebook and other platforms appear before his Committee. That would include Platform X, whose officers should share their future plans. In fact he might do well to have Andrew Torba and his officers at the Gab Empire testify as well. He could share the stern stuff of which he and his officers are made.