Trump mulls forming panel to investigate anticonservative bias on social media: report

President Trump is considering creating a panel to oversee complaints of bias against conservatives by social media platforms in a move that would likely spark pushback from tech companies.

The plans are still being mulled, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal, but options could include the creation of a formal White House commission on the allegations.

“Left-wing bias in the tech world is a con­cern that definitely needs to be addressed from our vantage point, and at least exposed [so] that Americans have clear eyes about what we’re dealing with,” a White House official told The Journal. 

Trump has repeatedly railed against social media companies over allegations that they suppress conservative voices, an accusation the platforms protest. 

The president accused platforms in 2019 of “tremendous dishonesty, bias, discrimination and suppression practiced by certain companies.”

“We will not let them get away with it much longer,” he tweeted.

A big subject today at the White House Social Media Summit will be the tremendous dishonesty, bias, discrimination and suppression practiced by certain companies. We will not let them get away with it much longer. The Fake News Media will also be there, but for a limited period..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 11, 2019

Conservative groups have for years said their content is disproportionately subjected to bias in search rank­ings and news feeds, and even deleted in a practice known as “shadow banning.” 

The news of the possible committee comes at a time of tension between Washington and Silicon Valley as the Justice Department prepares to sue Google for al­leged an­titrust vi­o­la­tions.