Key Republicans Demand Transparency on Threads’ Content Moderation Policies

House Republicans asked Meta Monday about content moderation on its new platform Threads, citing concerns about free speech violations.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asked Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to send documents about Threads’ content moderation practices to the committee by the end of July. Jordan cited a subpoena sent to Meta in February, which he said now covers material related to Threads. 

Threads launched earlier this month as an alternative to Twitter, the text-based platform now under control of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Jordan wrote that the committee is “concerned about potential First Amendment violations that have occurred or will occur on the Threads platform.” 

Meanwhile, Democrats have blasted Republicans over their probes of tech platforms’ content moderation practices, and have noted that First Amendment protections allow private companies to take action on content as they choose. 

The GOP’s latest request to Meta is an extension of the panels’ investigation into tech platforms’ content moderation policies and how the companies interact with the government, specifically the Biden administration. 

In addition to the House GOP’s probe, tech companies are facing courtroom hurdles limiting how they communicate with the government. 

Earlier this month, a federal judge blocked certain Biden administration agencies’ communications with social media companies in a ruling in favor of two Republican state attorneys general who argued the communications violated protected speech. 

On Friday, a three-judge appeals court panel issued a brief pause on the lower court ruling. 

The Hill reached out to a Meta spokesperson for comment.