House Judiciary targets anti-hate speech organization in censorship probe

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) requested information and documents from an anti-hate-speech organization as part of the committee’s probe into alleged internet censorship by the government.

In a letter sent Thursday, Jordan informed the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), an organization that tracks online hate speech and misinformation, that the committee is looking into the organization’s interactions with the federal government and social media companies. 

The letter comes after Elon Musk’s X, formerly called Twitter, sued the CCDH on Tuesday, alleging the nonprofit improperly accessed data while researching the social media platform.

“Certain third parties, including organizations like yours, appear to have played a role in this censorship regime by advising the government and social media companies on so-called ‘misinformation,’ and other types of content — sometimes with direct or indirect support or approval from the federal government,” Jordan wrote in the letter. 

Jordan said this “censorship regime,” threatens the First Amendment and “Americans’ civil liberties.”

“The Biden White House relied on CCDH in its unconstitutional pressure campaign against social media platforms to censor Americans,” the House Judiciary GOP wrote on X.

Imran Ahmed, the CEO of CCDH, called the letter a “transparent fishing expedition” by the committee.  

“I fear all of this is an attempt to hinder, delay and silence our work exposing hate and harmful disinformation online,” Ahmed said in a statement shared with The Hill.

Ahmed said CCDH has “never taken a dime from the U.S. government,” and is not funded by social media companies.

Jordan and other Republicans have argued that conservatives have seen their free speech curtailed on social media and that the Biden administration and major social media platforms have worked in concert to do this.

The controversy has covered an array of issues, including efforts by the Biden administration during the pandemic to press social media companies to not augment misinformation about vaccines.

Jordan requested documents and communications between the CCDH and both the executive branch and any technology companies related to the “moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, demonetization, or reduced circulation of content; the accuracy of or truth of content; or the attribution of content to the source or participant in a foreign malign or state-sponsored influence operation.”  

He also requested a list of employees, contractors, or agents of the CCDH who have had communications with the executive branch or technology companies on these topics between Jan. 1, 2015, and the present, in addition to a list of all related grants, contracts or funds received from the U.S. government. 

CCDH was given until Aug. 17 at 5 p.m. to produce these documents. 

— Updated at 5:12 p.m.