In a recent development, the House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), has uncovered new materials shedding light on the Biden White House’s attempts to influence Facebook, even going so far as to inquire about algorithm changes to promote favored media sources to users.
Dubbed “The Facebook Files,” the latest disclosures reveal interactions involving Biden White House digital strategy director Rob Flaherty, where he suggested altering Facebook’s algorithm to prioritize corporate establishment media like The New York Times over competitors such as Tomi Lahren and the Daily Wire.
Flaherty’s specific remarks were, “If you were to change the algorithm so that people were more likely to see NYT, WSJ, any authoritative news source over Daily Wire, Tomi Lahren, polarizing people, you wouldn’t have a mechanism to check the material impact?”
This revelation is part of Rep. Jordan’s ongoing investigation into the Facebook Files, a collection of communications between Facebook and the Biden White House, obtained after the Judiciary Committee applied significant pressure on the tech company, even threatening to hold Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in contempt of Congress.
Notably, this isn’t the first time Flaherty’s name has surfaced in connection to these interactions.
Additional emails from Missouri v. Biden revealed his efforts to persuade Facebook to monitor and censor users on the supposedly encrypted messaging platform WhatsApp.
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In one disclosed email, Flaherty inquired how Facebook planned to address “misinformation” on WhatsApp, given that the platform couldn’t access people’s private messages.
He asked, “If you can’t see the message, I’m genuinely curious—how do you know what kinds of messages you’ve cut down on?”
Another email showed Flaherty expressing dissatisfaction with Facebook’s handling of “vaccine-skeptical” content, pressing the company on its actions to address the issue and reduce the spread of such content.
“I care mostly about what actions and changes you’re making to ensure you’re not making our country’s vaccine hesitancy problem worse,” he wrote.
“I still don’t have a good, empirical answer on how effective you’ve been at reducing the spread of vaccine-skeptical content and misinformation to vaccine fence-sitters.”
The House Judiciary Committee’s investigation continues to unveil new insights into the interactions between the Biden administration and social media platforms.
As more information comes to light, the implications of these exchanges may draw further scrutiny and debate from all sides of the political spectrum.
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