A nonpartisan hate speech watchdog explained themselves in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Thursday, claiming GOP lawmakers that believe the group censors conservatives on social media do not understand its mission.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate responded to Jordan's inquiry in its letter after Jordan accused the watchdog of participating in a "censorship regime" with the federal government and with cooperation from social media companies.
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"Given the stated purpose of the letter and its requests for documents and information, we fear that the Committee may not have a clear understanding of CCDH’s mission or work," the group's lawyer wrote in the letter. "Considering the seriousness of this allegation and the underlying concerns regarding online disinformation, we feel compelled to set the record straight."
The watchdog explained that it is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit, and nongovernmental organization that has worked with both Democratic and Republican administrations. It said its mission is to "disrupt the architecture of online hate and misinformation," and it is devoted to remaining nonpolitical and nonpartisan.
The letter comes after Jordan requested the organization turns over documents and communications between CCDH, the executive branch, and social media companies.
"We know from the Facebook Files that the Center for Countering Digital Hate was working with the White House to censor speech," a senior GOP congressional aide with knowledge of the inquiry told the Washington Examiner at the time. "But how far did it go? Republicans want to find out, and of course, subpoenas are on the table if we don’t get answers."
The committee also requested information on any funds the organization had received from the U.S. government, but the CCDH replied it does not receive any money from the federal government.
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"CCDH is funded entirely by private donors and has never received any grants, entered into any contracts, or received any donations from the United States Government," the letter noted.
The Judiciary Committee's request occurred shortly after the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, filed a lawsuit against the group earlier this month. In the lawsuit, X Corp. claimed CCDH published "misleading claims" and exaggerated the prevalence of harmful content on the platform to scare off investors. But the watchdog's CEO, Imran Ahmed, stood by its report that hate speech had increased on the platform since Elon Musk purchased the social media company.