Sen. Cruz Slams Twitter for Targeting Voices for Political Gain
HOUSTON, Texas - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on The Constitution, today issued the following statement condemning Twitter's continued action to wrongly stifle political discourse and Americans' First Amendment rights under the guise of "disinformation":
"Time and time again we have seen Twitter exploit its immunity to silence the voices of those with whom Silicon Valley billionaires disagree. But yesterday the company stooped to a new political low, using its ubiquitous platform to target the President of the United States and push Democratic talking points - proving once again it's anything but impartial.
"Let's get the facts straight. Federalizing elections by mandating mail-in voting - as Democrats are pushing to do - is a direct invitation for ballot harvesting and voter fraud. Twitter's refusal to acknowledge that fact and their blatant attempts to discredit those who do is shameful and another example of why Americans don't trust Big Tech.
"I have long said that Big Tech is the single biggest threat facing our democracy. We know in 2016 social media companies had an outsized role in influencing our presidential election. It is terrifying that a handful of Silicon Valley billionaires have no accountability and the ability with the click of a mouse to censor, to deceive, and to manipulate votes - all without consequence. With another presidential election months away, we need to take action now to curtail that influence, protect free speech, and preserve the integrity of our elections."
In the Senate, Sen. Cruz is leading the fight to hold Big Tech accountable to the American people for its pattern of political bias and censorship. As The Dallas Morning News editorial board wrote earlier this year, "[Sen.] Cruz has been clear-eyed about the power American law has given big tech over the national discourse and how distorting that impact has been." Specifically, Sen. Cruz has:
- Chaired multiple hearings with representatives from Twitter, Facebook, and Google, where he raised his concerns about the technology companies engaging in a disturbing pattern of political censorship.
- Sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, urging him to remove language in U.S. trade agreements similar to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides "near -blanket legal immunity" to technology companies.
- Heard testimony from Dennis Prager of PragerU, whose videos are routinely censored on YouTube, and Dr. Robert Epstein, a psychologist who testified that Google's biased search results swung a minimum of 2.6 million votes to Hillary Clinton in 2016.
- Wrote an op-ed in The Hill in response to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's announcement banning all political ads from the platform, calling the move "profoundly harmful."
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