Many Americans rely on digital and social media sources for their primary media consumption.
Rather than opening up a newspaper or watching the evening news, many get their news from their cell phones.
But now lawmakers have just sent Big Tech executives into a full-blown panic.
The Texas Senate just sent shockwaves across the Big Tech landscape
Many political campaigns now depend on their social media presence to raise money and mobilize voters.
For this reason, many political experts agree that a candidate’s social media presence can make or break their campaign.
However, examples have emerged over the last several election cycles of social media platforms allegedly using their influence to benefit one candidate or political belief over another.
With this in mind, the Texas Senate’s Committee on State Affairs approved a motion to subpoena several large technology companies to address these concerns last Wednesday.
Some subpoenaed Big Tech companies include Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc., and TikTok, as well as Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, and even Elon Musk-owned X.
On Wednesday, Republican State Senator Bryan Hughes took to X to explain the recently approved subpoenas from the Texas Senate’s Committee on State Affairs.
Senator Hughes stated on X that, “Today the Senate Committee on State Affairs voted unanimously to authorize subpoenas to big tech firms like Facebook and Google.”
“There is strong evidence that big tech imposes their own biases to manipulate and stifle dissenting voices, undermining election integrity. Texas will not stand for that,” the Texan lawmaker added on X.
Today the Senate Committee on State Affairs voted unanimously to authorize subpoenas to big tech firms like Facebook and Google.
There is strong evidence that big tech imposes their own biases to manipulate and stifle dissenting voices, undermining election integrity. Texas… pic.twitter.com/osOfyBbTzr
— Senator Bryan Hughes (@SenBryanHughes) May 29, 2024
Last week, the Texas Senate’s Committee on State Affairs invited some technology experts to testify on the matter before issuing the subpoenas.
Dan Schneider, the vice president of the Media Research Center, was among those experts who the Texas Senate asked to testify.
Schneider alleged that many Big Tech companies participate in flagrant examples of favoritism, doing whatever it takes to get their preferred candidate across the finish line.
“These big tech platforms like Google and Facebook will have a candidate of choice, a preferred candidate, and any candidate in the way of that individual will be censored and content supporting that candidate will be silenced,” Schneider said in front of the Committee on State Affairs last week.
With these recently approved subpoenas, Texas lawmakers hope to investigate these allegations even further, which some believe have targeted and harmed Texans directly.
Big Tech executives will have a lot of explaining to do
For over a decade now, watchdog groups and concerned social media users have waged allegations of unfair practices against Big Tech companies.
During the 2016 and 2020 Presidential elections, for example, many instances occurred of Big Tech platforms allegedly censoring posts and news stories that defied the agenda of the radical Left.
In many cases, these censored stories and posts did not violate any laws, or user guidelines.
Yet, left-wing news sources rarely faced these sorts of censorship.
Further investigation into this matter could help to reveal the strategy and reasoning behind these allegedly unfair practices.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
