WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is threatening to hold Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in contempt of Congress for failing to supply documents related to an investigation into supposed censorship by tech companies of conservatives.
The measure is likely to pass the GOP-controlled committee. It would then be up to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to hold a full House vote on the contempt resolution as early as this fall, after the August recess.
If the House were to hold Zuckerberg in contempt, the Justice Department would decide whether to prosecute him.
Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Meta, said the company has delivered more than 50,000 pages of both internal and external documents to the committee since February. He added that they also have made current and former employees available for interviews with lawmakers.
“For many months, Meta has operated in good faith with this committee’s sweeping requests for information," Stone said in a statement.
Jordan, R-Ohio, issued the subpoenas to the chief executives of the five largest tech companies, including Zuckerberg, shortly after Republicans took over the House in January — looking to make good on a campaign promise to investigate Big Tech’s content moderation, particularly over COVID-19.
The letters were also sent to Sundar Pichai of Alphabet; Satya Nadella of Microsoft; Tim Cook of Apple; and Andy Jassy of Amazon.com. All were asked to turn over any documents related to what they assert is widespread corporate censorship of conservative voices.
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Associated Press reporter Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco contributed to this report.