Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) recently uncovered evidence suggesting the Federal government, universities, and Big Tech conspired to suppress news ahead of the 2020 Election. Representative Kat Cammack (R-FL) appeared on Fox Business's Varney & Co. to discuss calling this "a very critical issue."
As Rep. Cammack and an extensive report issued by the House Weaponization Committee describe, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) collaborated with a group named the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP) to scour social media for 'disinformation' which could frequently be simple jokes, opinions, and verifiably factual news.
Moreover, the posts targeted for censorship were almost exclusively right-leaning, with left-leaning posts that could be proven false often left untouched.
"They were collecting data, picking up posts, sending it to social media companies for them to take down, shadow ban, or suppress, and so [the name of the Election Integrity Partnership] is kind of an oxymoron. The name itself flies in the face, there is not a whole lot of integrity involved when you are taking away people's rights. I mean, everything that you see in this report was jokes, personal opinions that they said 'Oh no, that is too offensive, you have to take that down.' But we saw, by and large, conservative voices who were suppressed, " said Rep. Cammack.
Because the 2024 Election is closer than ever, she added, "This is a very, very critical issue that we have to get on top of," and "We can no longer allow for the new public square to take away and suppress Americans' First Amendment rights."
Host Stuart Varney asked what Congress could do to prevent a similar situation from occurring in a short amount of time, specifically if legislation would be necessary.
Cammack replied that Congress's power of the purse meant they could "defund the elements that are coordinating this suppression effort of First Amendment rights," referencing an incident uncovered in July wherein the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) colluded with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to censor social media posts critical of the Ukrainian war effort against Russia.
