[WashingtonExaminer] Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a criminal referral against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for making what the congressman called "materially false statements" to Congress while under oath during two joint hearings in 2018.During the hearings in April 2018, Zuckerberg "repeatedly and categorically" denied that his company engaged in bias against conservative speech, persons, policies, or politics, Gaetz's office said. Zuckerberg also denied his company "censored and suppressed" content supportive of President Trump and others who support him.
"Oversight is an essential part of Congress&; constitutional authority," Gaetz said in a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Monday. "As a member of this body, I question Mr. Zuckerberg's veracity, and challenge his willingness to cooperate with our oversight authority, diverting congressional resources during time-sensitive investigations, and materially impeding our work. Such misrepresentations are not only unfair, they are potentially illegal and fraudulent."
Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, pointed to an undercover investigation by media watchdog group Project Veritas that reported what it alleged to be a systematic bias among Facebook&r's "content moderators," employees who screen posts for potential violations of platform policy.
"This alone is already an indication of bias within the platform," Gaetz said in his letter to Barr. "Additionally, these facts are in direct contrast to Mr. Zuckerberg's testimony before Congress where he stated under oath that Facebook is a politically-neutral platform, and that he personally is working to root out any employees who are restricting speech based on Silicon Valley's overwhelmingly leftist culture."
Related:
Matt Gaetz: 2020-05-09 Good morning
Matt Gaetz: 2020-05-09 Matt Gaetz Calls Out Toothless Trey Gowdy & Lying Ryan
Matt Gaetz: 2020-04-23 Bicameral Letter Sent to Congressional Leaders Over Wuhan Laboratory Funding
Matt Gaetz: 2020-05-09 Good morning
Matt Gaetz: 2020-05-09 Matt Gaetz Calls Out Toothless Trey Gowdy & Lying Ryan
Matt Gaetz: 2020-04-23 Bicameral Letter Sent to Congressional Leaders Over Wuhan Laboratory Funding
Related:
Mark Zuckerberg: 2020-06-26 Facebook HR exec Leslie Brown has been FIRED after Project Veritas video debut
Mark Zuckerberg: 2020-06-18 Facebook launches drive to register 4M voters by November
Mark Zuckerberg: 2020-05-28 Zuckerberg knocks Twitter for fact-checking Trump, says private companies shouldn't be 'the arbiter of truth'
Mark Zuckerberg: 2020-06-26 Facebook HR exec Leslie Brown has been FIRED after Project Veritas video debut
Mark Zuckerberg: 2020-06-18 Facebook launches drive to register 4M voters by November
Mark Zuckerberg: 2020-05-28 Zuckerberg knocks Twitter for fact-checking Trump, says private companies shouldn't be 'the arbiter of truth'