President Trump plans to create a panel to examine cases of bias against conservatives and suppression of free speech on social media, reported The Wall Street Journal.
This news should not come as a surprise, especially considering last week’s tweet by the President which read:
It is not clear what department the panel would fall under or what authority it would have. However, the WSJ talked to sources that said the plans might lead to the creation of a commission that would work with agencies such as the Federal Communication Commission and the Federal Elections Commission.
“Left wing bias in the tech world is a concern that definitely needs to be addressed,” a White House official told the WSJ.
Republicans have previously voiced their concerns over left-wing bias by social media platforms. They have attempted interventions such as last year’s congressional meetings where officials of social media firms were questioned.
In May 2019, the White House launched a tool that allowed people to share their experiences with political censorship but nothing really came of it.
At a Social Media Summit held last July, several conservatives voiced concerns about censorship on social media and the shadow-banning of their content.
The President has often aired his mistrust for social media companies since taking office but no solutions or proposals have materialized.
A tweet from April last year accused Twitter of playing political games. That same month Trump met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey at the White House to discuss “the health of the public conversation.”
A year ago,Trump famously tweeted that he was “continuing to monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS,” something that is often joked about when someone gets banned from a social media platform.
