House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan sent a subpoena to Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, on Thursday, requesting communications between the company and the executive branch as well as internal company communications.
The move to go after Alphabet is the next step in Jordan’s yearslong crusade to go after social media platforms for what he says constitutes suppression of conservative speech. After Meta adjusted its own policies in January to respond to concerns from conservatives, Jordan has set his sights on a new target, accusing Alphabet of coordinating with the Biden administration to censure users.
In a letter reviewed by POLITICO, Jordan (R-Ohio) said the documents would inform a legislative response to the alleged coordination.
“Throughout the previous Congress, the Committee expressed concern over YouTube’s censorship of conservatives and political speech,” Jordan wrote in the letter to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. “To develop effective legislation, such as the possible enactment of new statutory limits on the executive branch’s ability to work with Big Tech to restrict the circulation of content and deplatform users, the Committee must first understand how and to what extent the executive branch coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech.”
Like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Pichai has also indicated he intends to cooperate with the Republican governing trifecta in Washington. He watched Donald Trump’s inauguration from inside the U.S. Capitol alongside the president’s most steadfast and prominent allies.
Jordan is also requesting communications between Alphabet officials and third parties working with the executive branch during the period of Jan. 1, 2020 to Jan. 20, 2025.
“We’ll continue to show the committee how we enforce our policies independently, rooted in our commitment to free expression,” said José Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, in a statement.
