Dear Friends,

Earlier this year, many of you shared with me your experiences using Big Tech platforms. I heard your concerns about privacy, being able to express yourself freely online without being censored, cyberbullying, and much more. I appreciated your input ahead of the hearing with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in March. Because of your feedback, I asked questions about potential bias in enforcing platform policies. This week I scrutinized Big Tech again at the E&C Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing that examined reforms to Big Tech’s legal immunity. Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen was one of the witnesses, and she spoke about how “Facebook's products harm children.” At this hearing I, again, brought up my concerns about censorship.

While no one likes misinformation, I am concerned about who gets to determine what qualifies as “misinformation.” Especially as one of the hearing witnesses testified that “…Twitter and Facebook censor Republican members of Congress at a rate of 53-to-1 compared to Democrats in Congress.” I brought up the example of Facebook censoring information about COVID-19’s origins being man-made or manufactured, a policy that the platform later reversed. 

Rep. Guthrie speaking at a press conference with GOP House Leadership on holding China accountable for COVID-19

I have been investigating COVID-19’s origins since March of this year. We need to understand the true origins of COVID-19 to hold those responsible accountable for this pandemic and learn how to ensure this never happens again. In total, I have sent more than 10 letters in addition to other efforts to demand information related to COVID-19’s origins from National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Francis Collins, EcoHealth Alliance, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and others. Click HERE to read about my investigation. While I believe that COVID-19 likely originated from a lab, there is not yet concrete evidence that has disproven either the lab leak theory or that the virus occurred naturally.

However, people who discussed the lab leak theory were treated as conspiracy theorists and their comments on COVID-19’s origins being man-made or manufactured were censored on Facebook and by other Big Tech companies.

Rep. Guthrie scrutinizing Big Tech censorship policies at committee hearing. Click HERE to watch the video.

This theory has not been disproven, and according to emails made available through the Freedom of Information Act, we now know that Dr. Fauci and his colleagues had information as early as January 31, 2020 that the virus may have come from a lab. For more than a year, Dr. Anthony Fauci cast doubt on this information and many of our health experts publicly stated that the COVID-19 virus developed naturally. From these emails, we also saw EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak thank Dr. Fauci “…for publicly standing up and stating that the scientific evidence supports a natural origin for COVID-19 from a bat-to-human spillover, not a lab release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.” EcoHealth Alliance and its President Daszak have been part of my COVID-19 origins investigation. EcoHealth Alliance received NIH funds and provided these funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), and Peter Daszak has made inaccurate statements about EcoHealth Alliance’s work at WIV on multiple occasions and refuses to answer questions relevant to COVID-19’s origins. 

On May 26, 2021, Facebook said it would reverse its policy on removing content that stated the virus was man-made or manufactured. I’m concerned that the content moderation policies regarding COVID-19 established by these Big Tech companies reduced access to information about the origins of COVID-19.

While Big Tech companies stated that their censorship decisions in this case were based on expert opinions, experts, like Dr. Fauci, were downplaying the lab leak, despite the lack of evidence to conclusively rule it out. Dr. Fauci said he is “…very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated...Everything about the stepwise evolution over time strongly indicates that [this virus] evolved in nature and then jumped species."

It is clear that Big Tech companies’ policies failed here and need to answer for these platform decisions. I have also heard from constituents about their religious content being taken down from Facebook and other censorship issues.

I will continue to hold Big Tech accountable for their actions. Additionally, I am working on legislation that requires internet platform companies to address the illegal sale of drugs on their platforms. More information on this bill can be found HERE.

In Case You Missed It

Fox News: Wuhan 'lab leak' coronavirus theory in focus as House Republicans demand answers

KTXS: EXCLUSIVE: Lawmakers, citing Sinclair report, seek classified briefing on COVID-19 study

Washington Times: GOP lawmakers demand Biden administration turn over evidence linking COVID-19 to Chinese lab

CBS News: GOP seeks records on possible U.S. funding of research at Chinese lab before pandemic

How Can I Help?

I am proud to represent you. If you need assistance or would like to share your experiences with Big Tech, please do not hesitate to reach out. You can contact me by sending me an email by clicking HERE or calling my D.C. office at 202-225-3501.