The House Oversight Committee held a hearing Wednesday with the purpose of "Protecting Speech from Government Interference and Social Media Bias." Given the disturbing and unprecedented steps taken by federal agencies like the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control to limit free expression on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites, this would appear to be a legitimate subject for government oversight. Unfortunately, the approach taken by the Republican House majorityhaul tech executives before Congress and attack them for being the victims of government pressureis both counterproductive to the goal of defending free speech online, as well as a galling example of Republican members of Congress doing the very thing they claim to oppose. The Republican Party can hardly chide private companies' content moderators for being deferential to government authority while demanding similar deference to Congress.
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