Companies Owned By Trump's Richest Allies Land in Crosshairs Of House Republicans American Censorship Crusade

Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed on Wednesday the CEOs of several big tech companies, seeking to uncover documents that, they say, have information on the "Foreign Censorship of American Speech." Some of them, however, are owned by some of President Donald Trump's newest allies, who pivoted after the election to operate in a way that is more aligned with the administration's goals.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos were among those who had privileged seats at Trump's inauguration on January 20. Their companies have also been targeted by the subpoena. X, owned by top Trump ally and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk also received a letter.

Meta announced plans to loosen its speech restrictions coinciding with Trump's inauguration, claiming it was taking an approach aimed at guaranteeing free speech in the U.S.

Bezos, on his end, said on Wednesday that he had directed The Washington Post's opinion section to say it would now only focus on promoting personal liberties and free markets. "We'll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others," Bezos wrote on X.

"I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America's success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity," he added. The decision led opinion editor David Shipley, who had been leading the section since 2022, to resign from his post.

"I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, the opportunity to lead this new chapter. I suggested to him that if the answer wasn't "hell yes," then it had to be "no." After careful consideration, David decided to step away," Bezos continued in his post on X. "This is a significant shift, it won't be easy, and it will require 100% commitment — I respect his decision. We'll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction," Bezos said.

However, Republicans in the Judiciary Committee have set a new target in its sights, looking to conduct "oversight of how and to what extent foreign laws, regulations, and judicial orders compel, coerce, or influence companies to censor speech in the United States."

The letter in fact refers to previous statements from Meta, which admitted that it was wrong to bow to the Biden-Harris Administration's demands" and "publicly committed to restoring free speech on its platforms, and reformed its policies."

Now, they say, "a new threat to Americans' free expression has emerged in the form of foreign laws, regulations, and judicial orders that require or lead American companies to limit what content can be viewed on their platforms in the United States."

"To protect Americans' civil liberties, the Committee must investigate the extent and nature of these foreign censorship efforts and their effect on constitutionally protected speech at home," the letter adds, citing laws in the United Kingdom, the European Union and Brazil, as well as Australia and Canada.

For that reason they are asking for communications between the companies and foreign governments regarding the companies' "compliance with foreign censorship laws, regulations, judicial orders, or other government-initiated efforts," as well as internal communications discussing "communications from foreign governments."