[House Report 117-648]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
117th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 117-648
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RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT TO PROVIDE TO THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES CERTAIN DOCUMENTS OR RECORDS RELATING TO
COORDINATION BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES AND THE BIDEN
ADMINISTRATION ON INFORMATION, CENSORSHIP, AND CENSORSHIP MEETINGS IN
ORDER TO SUPPRESS OR DEPLATFORM PERSONS OR INFORMATION THE
ADMINISTRATION VIEWS AS MISINFORMATION, DISINFORMATION, AND
MALINFORMATION ON COVI-19, HUNTER BIDEN, AND ELECTIONS, AND CERTAIN
DOCUMENTS OR RECORDS RELATING TO PLANS TO PROVIDE GRANT FUNDING TO
CONSORTIUMS, INCLUDING THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE, IN THE UNITED
STATES
_______
December 16, 2022.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Pallone, from the Committee on Energy and Commerce,
submitted the following
ADVERSE REPORT
together with
MINORITY VIEWS
[To accompany H. Res. 1476]
The Committee on Energy and Commerce, to whom was referred
the resolution (H. Res. 1476) of inquiry requesting the
President to provide to the House of Representatives certain
documents or records relating to coordination between social
media companies and the Biden administration on information,
censorship, and censorship meetings in order to suppress or
deplatform persons or information the administration views as
misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation on COVID-19,
Hunter Biden, and elections, and certain documents or records
relating to plans to provide grant funding to consortiums,
including the Democratic National Committee, in the United
States, having considered the same, reports unfavorably thereon
without amendment and recommends that the resolution not be
agreed to.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary............................................. 2
II. Background and Need for the Legislation......................... 2
III. Committee Hearings.............................................. 3
IV. Committee Consideration......................................... 3
V. Committee Votes................................................. 3
VI. Oversight Findings.............................................. 6
VII. New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditure 6
VIII. Federal Mandates Statement...................................... 6
IX. Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives........... 6
X. Duplication of Federal Programs................................. 6
XI. Committee Cost Estimate......................................... 6
XII. Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff Benefits..... 6
XIII. Advisory Committee Statement.................................... 7
XIV. Applicability to Legislative Branch............................. 7
XV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation.................. 7
XVI. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported........... 7
XVII. Minority Views.................................................. 8
I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H. Res. 1476 requests the President to furnish to the House
of Representatives records either generated or received by the
office of the President related to censorship and social media
companies, including records that relate to the Election
Integrity Partnership, efforts to censor information, fact-
checks, flagging incidents or emerging narratives for social
media companies, countering election misinformation, labeling
content, flagging Uniform Resource Locators, labeling news or
opinion organizations, platform interventions, content
moderation, far-right influencers, incident reports for tweets
or retweets, spreading misinformation or disinformation on
Hunter Biden or Dr. Anthony Fauci, and repeat spreaders of
election misinformation. It also requests records related to
certain National Science Foundation grants to Stanford and the
University of Washington, meetings or agreements with certain
private entities, and communications on misinformation or
disinformation concerning certain individual social media
users.
II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Under the Rules and precedents of the House of
Representatives, a resolution of inquiry is a means by which
the House requests information from the President of the United
States or the head of one of the executive departments.
Resolutions of inquiry have no legal force and thus compliance
by the Executive Branch with the House's request for
information is voluntary. The Rules require the committee to
which the resolution is referred to act on the resolution
within 14 legislative days, or a motion to discharge the
committee from consideration is considered privileged on the
floor of the House.\1\
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\1\House rule XIII, clause 7.
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H. Res. 1476 requests that the President provide to the
House of Representatives certain documents or records relating
to coordination between social media companies and the Biden
administration on information, censorship, and censorship
meetings in order to suppress or deplatform persons or
information the administration views as misinformation,
disinformation, and malinformation on COVID-19, Hunter Biden,
and elections, and certain documents or records relating to
plans to provide grant funding to consortiums, including the
Democratic National Committee, in the United States.
The Committee reported this resolution of inquiry adversely
to the House. Much of the resolution centers on unsubstantiated
and disproven information about the Election Integrity
Partnership, a research collaborative founded in 2020 by
Stanford University and the University of Washington, among
others. The resolution suggests a vast conspiracy where this
nonpartisan project, created to counter disinformation about
election processes or procedures, is claimed to operate as an
agent of the current administration seeking to remove opposing
viewpoints from social media platforms. The innuendo about the
Election Integrity Partnership, its funding, and the
stakeholders it has engaged has been thoroughly and
transparently addressed by the Election Integrity Partnership
itself\2\ and an independent fact checker.\3\ And the
additional topics this resolution seeks to examine are equally
unsupported in fact.
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\2\Election Integrity Partnership, A Statement from the Election
Integrity Partnership (Oct. 5, 2022) (https://www.eipartnership.net/
blog/a-statement-from-the-election-integrity-partnership).
\3\PolitiFact, Partnership targeted election misinformation, no
conservatives (Oct. 11, 2022) (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/
2022/oct/11/instagram-posts/partnership-targeted-election-
misinformationnot-c/).
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Additionally, the resolution appears premature as Rep.
Clyde has apparently made no attempt to engage with the
Committee to obtain the documents requested through other
means. Historically, resolutions of inquiry have been
introduced in instances where an administration has refused to
respond to reasonable committee or member requests.\4\
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\4\See H.R. Rep. No. 115-54, at 4-6 (2017).
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The majority remains committed to holding social media
platforms accountable for their harmful conduct and protecting
the First Amendment. However, H. Res. 1476 is unnecessary and
inappropriate. Therefore, the Committee ordered H. Res. 1476
reported to the House adversely.
III. COMMITTEE HEARINGS
The Committee on Energy and Commerce has not held hearings
on the legislation.
IV. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
H. Res. 1476 was introduced on November 16, 2022, by
Representative Clyde (R-GA) and was referred to the Committee
on Energy and Commerce. Subsequently, on November 17, 2022, the
resolution was referred to the Subcommittee on Communications
and Technology. The resolution was discharged from the
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology on December 14,
2022.
On December 14, 2022, the Committee met in open markup
session and ordered H. Res. 1476, without amendment, adversely
reported to the House by a record vote of 28 yeas and 23 nays.
V. COMMITTEE VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires the Committee to list each record vote
on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. The
Committee advises that there was one record votes taken on H.
Res. 1476 including a motion by Mr. Pallone ordering H. Res.
1476 adversely reported to the House, without amendment. The
motion on final passage of the bill was approved by a record
vote of 28 yeas to 23 nays. The following are the record votes
taken during Committee consideration, including the names of
those members voting for and against:
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
VI. OVERSIGHT FINDINGS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause 2(b)(1)
of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
oversight findings and recommendations of the Committee are
reflected in the descriptive portion of the report.
VII. NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES
Pursuant to 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House
of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its own the
estimate of new budget authority, entitlement authority, or tax
expenditures or revenues contained in the cost estimate
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office
pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974.
The Committee has requested but not received from the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office a statement as to
whether this bill contains any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
VIII. FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT
The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act.
IX. STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general
performance goal or objective of this legislation is to request
that the President provide certain documents to the House of
Representatives relating to coordination between social media
companies and the Biden administration on information,
censorship, and censorship meetings.
X. DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII, no provision of H.
Res. 1476 is known to be duplicative of another Federal
program, including any program that was included in a report to
Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139 or the
most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.
XI. COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE
Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII, the Committee
adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
XII. EARMARKS, LIMITED TAX BENEFITS, AND LIMITED TARIFF BENEFITS
Pursuant to clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI, the
Committee finds that H. Res. 1476 contains no earmarks, limited
tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits.
XIII. ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT
No advisory committee within the meaning of section 5(b) of
the Federal Advisory Committee Act was created by this
legislation.
XIV. APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
XV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION
H. Res. 1476 requests that the President transmit to the
House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the date
of the adoption of this resolution, records either generated or
received by the office of the President, that refer or relate
to: the Election Integrity Partnership; efforts to censor
information; attempts to do fact-checks; procedures to flag
incidents to be assessed by social media companies; resilience
efforts to counter election misinformation; consortium
agreements, collaboration, or meetings about social media or
disinformation with any private entities; the removal,
throttling, or labeling of content; flagged Uniform Resource
Locators (URLs), including the labeling, removal, or soft-
blocking of such URLs; the removal, throttling, or labeling of
news and opinion organizations or the content of news and
opinion organizations; meetings or discussions regarding
misinformation and disinformation with certain named
individuals; platform interventions in response to certain
issues; communications on misinformation or disinformation
concerning individual social media users; content moderation;
far-right influencers; certain National Science Foundation
grants to named academic institutions; incident reports for
tweets and retweets; spreading misinformation and
disinformation on Hunter Biden or White House Chief Medical
Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci; and repeat spreaders of election
misinformation.
XVI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED
There are no changes to existing law made by the bill H.
Res. 1476.
XVII. MINORITY VIEWS
H. Res. 1476, introduced by Rep. Andrew Clyde (GA),
requests certain documents or records relating to coordination
between social media companies and the Biden administration on
information, censorship, and censorship meetings in order to
suppress or deplatform persons or information the
administration views as misinformation, disinformation, and
malinformation on COVID-19, Hunter Biden, and elections, and
certain documents or records relating to plans to provide grant
funding to consortiums, including the Democratic National
Committee, in the United States.
For years, the Biden administration has demonstrated a
repeated interest in using the power and influence of the
Executive Branch to coerce private actors into censoring
content which does not align with its political interests. This
became particularly clear following the release of the Twitter
files in December 2022. Internal Twitter conversations revealed
the Biden Administration has been colluding with Big Tech to
block speech that differs from President Biden's position.\1\
Further, the documents raise serious questions about whether
former CEO Jack Dorsey lied in his testimony in front of this
Committee when denying top Twitter executives were shadow
banning conservatives.
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\1\Twitter, Matt Taibbi (Dec. 9, 2022), available at https://t.co/
kgC4eGykcO.
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The White House has shown interest in having social media
companies remove content that the White House deems as
``misinformation.'' On July 15, 2021, White House Press
Secretary Jen Psaki disclosed that the Surgeon General's office
is monitoring content on technology platforms and that the
Biden administration has been in ``regular touch with'' social
media platforms to pressure them to ``move more quickly to
remove harmful, violative posts.''\2\
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\2\White House, Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy (July 15, 2021), available at
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/07/15/
press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-and-surgeon-general-dr-
vivek-h-murthy-july-15 2021/.
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The Biden administration has also shown a pattern of
behavior requesting private companies censor certain content.
On February 1, 2022, Press Secretary Psaki applauded Spotify
for adding disclaimers to certain episodes of The Joe Rogan
Experience, but implicitly suggested Spotify deplatform Joe
Rogan by demanding ``more . . . be done.''\3\ Subsequently, on
March 3, 2022, the Surgeon General Murthy formally requested
that technology companies submit information about COVID-19
misinformation.\4\ The Surgeon General demanded information
about the ``COVID-19 misinformation policies on individual
technology platforms'' and, even more alarming, specific
information about individuals who are considered to be
``sources of COVID-19 misinformation.''\5\
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\3\Steven Nelson, Psaki cheers Spotify warning on COVID podcasts,
says `more' should be done, New York Post (Feb, 1, 2022), available at
https://nypost.com/2022/02/01/psaki-cheers-spotify-warning-on-joe-
rogans-covid-podcasts/.
\4\Davey Alba, The surgeon general calls on Big Tech to turn over
Covid-19 misinformation data, New York Times (Mar. 3, 2022), available
at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/technology/surgeon-general-covid-
misinformation.html.
\5\U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Impact of Health
Misinformation in the Digital Information Environment in the United
States Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic Request for Information, (Mar.
4, 2022), available at https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/
2022-04777.pdf.
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As if this were not enough, the Biden administration's
Department of Homeland Security tried to establish a
Disinformation Governance Board to continue their censorship
mission. The White House should not be arbiters of truth,
pressuring private companies to shut down speech that they deem
is false or harmful.
In Bantam Books v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court held that a
government agency violated the First Amendment by sending
letters to private booksellers to ``inform'' them they were
selling books and magazines the agency found objectionable. The
agency's letters thanked the booksellers for their
``anticipated cooperation'' and reminded them of the agency's
duty to recommend prosecutions. The Court found that such
behavior amounted to ``informal censorship'' because the effect
of the letters was to intimidate the booksellers into
suppressing the sale of the certain books and magazines. The
Court found that such behavior amounted to an unconstitutional
``scheme of state censorship.'' Here, the Biden administration
appears to be engaged in similar behavior.
Republican leaders on the Committee have taken several
steps to request documents, communications, and information
regarding efforts by the Surgeon General, Press Secretary, and
other Biden administration officials to censor conservatives
and coerce social media platforms into censoring perceived
``health misinformation.'' On July 21, 2021, 189 Republican
Members of Congress sent a letter to President Biden requesting
information about what social media platforms the
administration was working with to coordinate the removal of
certain content or certain users.\6\ On March 11, 2022,
Republican Leaders of the Committees on Energy and Commerce,
Judiciary, Oversight and Reform, and the Select Subcommittee on
the Coronavirus Crisis sent a letter to Surgeon General Vivek
Murthy specifically asking for documents and internal
communications that refer to or relate to the communication or
coordination of the Biden administration and social media
companies regarding censorship or content moderation.\7\
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\6\See, Letter from 189 Republican Members of Congress to President
Biden, July 21, 2021, Available at: https://republicans-
energycommerce.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021.07.22-WH-
Letter-on-Censorship-FINAL-CP5-1.pdf.
\7\See, Letter from Ranking Members McMorris Rodgers, Jordan,
Comer, and Scalise to Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, March 11, 2022.
Available at: https://republicans-energycommerce.house.gov/wp-content/
uploads/2022/03/3.11.22-Letter-to-Surgeon-General-Murthy-Final.pdf.
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On September 13, 2022, Republicans requested President
Biden hand over documents, information, and communications
relating to meetings between Biden administration officials and
private social media companies relating to censorship of
certain content or individuals.\8\
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\8\See, Letter from Republican Leaders McMorris Rodgers, Latta, and
Bilirakis to President Biden, September 13, 2022. Available at: https:/
/republicans-energycommerce.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/
2022.09.13-WH-Document-Preservation-Request.pdf.
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To date, the Committee has not received the documents,
communications, or information in question. Knowing this
information is crucial to our government's checks and balances
and oversight responsibilities, to ensure that the Biden
administration is upholding the Constitution. Therefore, the
Minority believes the Resolution of Inquiry is the proper next
step to obtaining such information.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers,
Republican Leader, Committee on Energy and Commerce.
[all]