EXCLUSIVE: Ted Cruz Demands Answers From Meta, Google, And TikTok In New Senate Probe

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz opened a Commerce Committee inquiry into Big Tech last month, as House Republicans investigate government influence over online speech platforms. Thursday’s visit by Ted Cruz to Texas saw him follow up with Silicon Valley’s main players to find out why their initial responses were not sufficient to congressional inquiries.

Cruz, who is the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s ranking Member, initiated the GOP probe at the upper chamber with letters sent to Meta, Google, Twitter, and TikTok, requesting information on content regulation.

“As you are well aware, social media companies rely on algorithms to not only moderate content, but also to surface personalized recommendations to users,” Cruz wrote to the four tech titans. “Recommendation systems play an increasingly ubiquitous role in selecting content for individual consumption, including by promoting some content, using product design elements to prominently display recommendations, and downranking or filtering disfavored content and account.”

Cruz emphasized Cruz’s concerns about addiction and the exposure to harmful material in particular.

“At their best, recommendations help users discover interesting or relevant content that they might not otherwise find on a platform,” Cruz wrote. “However, recommendation systems can also fuel platform addiction by feeding users an essentially infinite stream of content. This can be especially dangerous when recommendations make it easier for vulnerable users, especially teenagers, to find objectively harmful content, such as content that promotes eating disorders and self-harm.”

Fox News’ Cruz assured viewers that an investigation would be launched into the revelations made in the “Twitter Files” This brought to light government collusion with Silicon Valley platforms. At their second hearing last Wednesday, the Select Weaponization Committee of the House Republicans signaled that they would be expanding their investigation into big technology.

“The Senate Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over about half the U.S. economy,” Cruz said. “We are going to take what Elon Musk has made public and use that as a roadmap to go after Facebook, to go after Google, to go after YouTube, to go after TikTok, to go after all of Big Tech that is trying to silence conservatives.”

Cruz met with three of the four tech companies Thursday to demand that they comply with the congressional oversight requests from February 13. The Texas lawmaker sent additional letters to TikTok and Meta, as well as to Google, reprimanding the Silicon Valley leaders for failing answer 18 of the 20 questions.

“The American people have a vested interest in the policies and practices that govern their speech on large social media platforms,” Cruz wrote to each company’s executive. “As content moderation has grown in both scale and complexity, the need for sunlight — particularly on politically-charged moderation questions — has become an imperative.”

2023.03.16 Sen. Cruz Letter… by The Federalist

2023.03.16 Sen. Cruz Letter… by The Federalist

2023.03.16 Sen. Cruz Letter… by The Federalist