House Republicans subpoena Google over alleged censorship<p>Google is once again in the crosshairs of Republicans in Congress because of alleged censorship, <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:1;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-06/alphabet-receives-house-republican-subpoena-over-speech-concerns" data-original-link="
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-06/alphabet-receives-house-republican-subpoena-over-speech-concerns">
Bloomberg writes[/url]. The House Judiciary Committee has <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:2;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/jordan-subpoenas-alphabet-documents-about-biden-harris-censorship-efforts" data-original-link="
https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/jordan-subpoenas-alphabet-documents-about-biden-harris-censorship-efforts">subpoenaed[/url] Google's parent company Alphabet and CEO Sundar Pichai for evidence of communication between the tech company and the Biden administration.</p>
<p><a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:3;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-03-06-jdj-to-pichai-alphabet-re-subpoena.pdf" data-original-link="
https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-03-06-jdj-to-pichai-alphabet-re-subpoena.pdf">The subpoena[/url] specifically asks for documents covering communications between Alphabet and the executive branch, along with discussions Alphabet might have had internally or with third-parties about those communications. The Committee hopes to snowball the discovery that the <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:4;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://www.reuters.com/technology/zuckerberg-says-biden-administration-pressured-meta-censor-covid-19-content-2024-08-27/" data-original-link="
https://www.reuters.com/technology/zuckerberg-says-biden-administration-pressured-meta-censor-covid-19-content-2024-08-27/">Biden administration made requests to Meta[/url] to remove COVID-19 misinformation into a case for "new statutory limits on the executive branch’s ability to work with Big Tech to restrict the circulation of content and deplatform users," the subpoena says. </p>
<span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><p>None of these concerns are particularly new. <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:5;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://www.engadget.com/house-panel-subpoenas-the-ceos-from-techs-biggest-companies-over-content-moderation-204641525.html" data-original-link="
https://www.engadget.com/house-panel-subpoenas-the-ceos-from-techs-biggest-companies-over-content-moderation-204641525.html">Pichai and other tech CEOs[/url] have been brought in front of Congress to explain things like content moderation, censorship and <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:6;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://www.engadget.com/2018-12-12-google-pichai-house-judiciary-hearing.html" data-original-link="
https://www.engadget.com/2018-12-12-google-pichai-house-judiciary-hearing.html">bias[/url] before. In the past, it's mostly seemed like a way for members of Congress to get sound bites, but the aggressive, retaliatory nature of the Trump administration might give these new demands more teeth. Helping to <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:7;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/09/google-donates-1-million-to-trumps-inauguration-fund.html" data-original-link="
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/09/google-donates-1-million-to-trumps-inauguration-fund.html">pay for Trump's inauguration[/url] and <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:8;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://apnews.com/article/trump-inauguration-tech-billionaires-zuckerberg-musk-wealth-0896bfc3f50d941d62cebc3074267ecd" data-original-link="
https://apnews.com/article/trump-inauguration-tech-billionaires-zuckerberg-musk-wealth-0896bfc3f50d941d62cebc3074267ecd">showing up for photos[/url] didn't get Google protection in the end, assuming it doesn't manage to wriggle out of the <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:9;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-proposes-alternative-remedies-for-its-search-monopoly-after-doj-demands-radical-changes-185253526.html" data-original-link="
https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-proposes-alternative-remedies-for-its-search-monopoly-after-doj-demands-radical-changes-185253526.html">ongoing antitrust case[/url] against it.</p>
<p>Tech companies might be getting attention from Congress, but the idea that the current administration might want to make censorship demands doesn't appear to be a concern. <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:10;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/06/trump-promises-to-abuse-take-it-down-act-for-censorship-just-as-we-warned/" data-original-link="
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/06/trump-promises-to-abuse-take-it-down-act-for-censorship-just-as-we-warned/">President Trump has expressed interest[/url] in using the <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:11;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4569/text" data-original-link="
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4569/text">Take It Down Act[/url], a bill designed to hold websites liable for hosting and not removing Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery (NCII), to eliminate any kind of speech he dislikes. The disastrous potential misuses of the law <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:12;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/03/trump-calls-congress-pass-overbroad-take-it-down-act-so-he-can-use-it-censor" data-original-link="
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/03/trump-calls-congress-pass-overbroad-take-it-down-act-so-he-can-use-it-censor">have been outlined by activists before[/url], but the bill passed in the Senate and is now waiting to be taken up by the House.</p>This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/house-republicans-subpoena-google-over-alleged-censorship-212115140.html?src=rssSource:
House Republicans subpoena Google over alleged censorship
