Jordan subpoenas hate speech watchdog

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) subpoenaed a hate speech watchdog group on Wednesday, ramping up the committee’s probe into the nonprofit organization. 

Jordan issued the subpoena to the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) for documents relating to its communication with the federal government. He also sent a letter to the group accusing them of refusing to “comply voluntarily” with the committee’s requests. 

CCDH has previously responded to the committee’s requests by stating it appears to misunderstand the nature of the organization’s work, which they said is nonpartisan and funded by private donors, not government contracts or donations. 

However, Jordan’s latest letter continues to press the CCDH over its communication with the government. Jordan wrote that “by declining to produce anything of substance in response to the Committee’s request, CCDH is hindering the Committee’s ability to fulfill its constitutional oversight obligations.” 

The subpoena follows a request from Jordan to the CCDH earlier this month seeking documents and communications between the CCDH and the federal government, as well as with social media companies. 

CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed called the latest inquiry “a pointless, time-wasting attack on our work and an attempt to silence our efforts to study and hold social media companies accountable.” 

“After we explained to the Committee that we engaged with both Republican and Democratic administrations, this request oddly shrunk to focus almost entirely on our communications with the current administration,” Ahmed said in a statement.

“We look forward to continuing to engage on a bipartisan basis with political parties in the US and elsewhere in productive conversations on preventing the spread of hate and disinformation that harms human life, but this request looks increasingly like a wild goose chase,” he added. 

In a letter sent to Jordan in response to the first request, a lawyer representing the CCDH responded that the committee “may not have a clear understanding of CCDH’s mission or work.” 

The letter stated that the CCDH given its designation as a 501(c)(3) charitable entity, the group is obligated to remain nonpolitical and nonpartisan. It also went on to say that the CCDH has worked with officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations, including the former Trump administration. 

The CCDH regularly puts out reports that track the spread of misinformation on social media platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter. 

The pressure on the CCDH is part of House Republicans’ ongoing allegations of anti-conservative censorship online. Democrats have criticized the GOP’s focus on the allegations, noting in hearings held about the accusations that it is within private companies’ First Amendment rights to moderate content as they choose. 

In addition to the pressure from Jordan, the CCDH is also facing a lawsuit from X, which was purchased by billionaire Elon Musk in October. 

The initial request from Jordan was sent just days after X filed its lawsuit. The complaint alleges the CCDH “unlawfully” scraped data from the platform and hurt the company’s revenue after advertisers paused spending on the site. 

The CCDH has pushed back on the allegations and pledged to defend itself against the complaint. 

— Updated at 7:19 p.m.