WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to approve subpoeanas for the CEOs of both Twitter and Facebook over the social media companies' handling of an unverified story published in the New York Post last week.


What You Need To Know

  • GOP senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve subpoenas for Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook

  • Republicans allege the social media sites unfairly censored an article from the New York Post, which was unverified by other news outlets

  • The story cited unverified emails from Democratic candidate Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, reportedly disclosed by Trump allies

  • Republicans, including the president, have long maintained that social media platforms unfairly censor conservative voices and stories

The Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee voted to authorize the legal orders if Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey did not agree to testify voluntarily. All ten Senate Democrats on the committee boycotted the session in opposition to a separate vote on advancing the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump's pick for the next Supreme Court justice. 

The committee wants to hear from Zuckerberg and Dorsey about “the suppression and/or censorship of two news articles from the New York Post,” according to the subpoena document. Senators also want information from the executives about their companies’ policies for moderating content “that may interfere” with federal elections.

A Facebook spokesperson declined comment. Twitter representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The Republicans' move targets the social media companies' response last week to limit the online dissemination and sharing of an unverified political story from the conservative-leaning New York Post that targeted Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The story, which other publications have not confirmed, cited unverified emails from Biden’s son Hunter that were reportedly disclosed by President Donald Trump’s allies.

Although Facebook and Twitter had different approaches to censoring the story, it was the first time in recent memory that the two social media platforms enforced rules against misinformation on a story from a mainstream media publication.

Facebook used the possibility of false information as the reason to limit the article’s reach, which means its algorithm shows it to fewer people, much the way you might not see as many posts from friends you don’t interact with often. Twitter, meanwhile, blocked users from tweeting out the link to the story and from sending it in private messages.

Though they acted quickly, both companies stumbled on communicating their decision to the public. In part because of this, and in part by the mere act of trying to limit the story, the tech platforms soon became the story, especially in conservative circles where purported bias from Big Tech is already a prime talking point. The fact that a major, big-city newspaper was getting the treatment usually reserved for more fringe outlets added extra fuel to the fire.

With Trump leading the way, conservatives have stepped up their claims that Facebook, Twitter and Google, which owns YouTube, are biased, charging without evidence Silicon Valley’s social media platforms are deliberately suppressing conservative views.

“I find this behavior stunning but not surprising from a platform that has censored the President of the United States,” wrote Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) in a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey last week. 

Dorsey eventually took to Twitter to say it was “unacceptable” that the company had not provided more context around its action, and ultimately allowed the story to be posted as it had already been so widely disseminated.

With the Nov. 3 election looming, Facebook and Twitter have scrambled to stem the tide of material seen as potentially inciting violence and spreading disinformation and baseless conspiracy theories. Facebook has expanded its restrictions on political advertising, including new bans on messages claiming widespread voter fraud. Trump has raised the prospect of mass fraud in the vote-by-mail process.

The companies also have wrestled with how strongly they should intervene in speech on their platforms.

Although the Senate has not announced a date for their most recent hearing request, Zuckerberg, Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai are already set to appear before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation next week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.