House GOP Rips ‘Cuban Dictator’ Biden Over Bid to Control Social Media Health ‘Misinformation’

House Republicans have ripped through President Joe Biden and his administration after White House officials said last week they were working with social media platforms including Facebook to remove them. COVID-19 “misinformation”.

A letter written by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and signed by 190 GOP members in the House to Biden alleges the administration tried to suppress disinformation that contradicts his stories White House on COVID-19 and vaccines.

“The federal government’s relentless efforts to pressure private companies to censor speech they disagree with are alarming and an affront to the First Amendment. ,” the letter was released by Fox News.

It said: “That is the kind of behavior we would expect from a Cuban dictator, not a President of the United States.

The top three GOP members of the House – Leader Kevin McCarthy, Whip Steve Scalise and Republican Convention Chair Elise Stefanik – also signed the letter.

The reporters come after White House officials said earlier this week they were working with social media companies to ask them to remove content deemed “misinformation”.

On Tuesday, Kate Bedingfield, the White House communications director, said social media companies were held accountable for allowing so-called misinformation to be published on their platforms.

She added that the administration is considering Section 230 of the Communication Discipline Act of 1996, which prevents social media companies from being held liable like media companies and publishers. other, for content that others publish on their platforms.

“Social media companies are responsible,” she told MSNBC earlier this week. “We are looking into that and they must be held accountable for sure.

“It is also the responsibility of the creators of the content,” she continued, going on to blame “conservative outlets” for giving out false information.

“Once again, I go back to having conservative news outlets creating irresponsible content sharing virus misinformation being shared on these platforms,” she stated.

Also this week, in an impromptu interview on his way out of the White House, Biden announced that Facebook is “killing people”.

Facebook pushed back the next day in a post by Guy Rosen, the company’s vice president.

“Data shows that 85% of Facebook users in the US have or are looking to get vaccinated against COVID-19,” he wrote.

“President Biden’s goal is that 70% of Americans get vaccinated by July 4. Facebook is not the reason this goal has been missed,” Rosen added.

Democrats in Congress have also introduced legislation holding tech companies accountable for any misinformation on their platforms that they fail to remove.

But in their letter, Republicans say the government should not be involved in First Amendment policy work.

“This is a problem with your moderation duties,” they wrote. “Not only are you attacking the First Amendment, but your ‘facts’ could be wrong.”