Trump Administration Considering Panel to Review Social Media Platform’s Anti-Conservative Bias

The Trump Administration is considering forming a panel to investigate bias against conservatives by social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The move would likely be welcomed by conservatives who believe they are often unfairly targeted by big tech corporations for censorship and deplatforming.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the panel would be established to review complaints of bias censoring and punishing conservative voices. The Journal reported on the matter after receiving information from anonymous sources and noted that the plans are still under discussion.

“Left-wing bias in the tech world is a concern that definitely needs to be addressed from our vantage point, and at least exposed so that Americans have clear eyes about what we’re dealing with,” one White House official told The Journal.

Perhaps hinting at an upcoming announcement about the panel, President Trump tweeted on May 15 about the anti-conservative bias among big tech companies. “The Radical Left is in total command & control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google. The Administration is working to remedy this illegal situation. Stay tuned, and send names and events,” the president wrote.

Among numerous instances, in June 2019, YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, demonetized conservative commentator Stephen Crowder’s YouTube channel after left-wing activist Carlos Maza complained about derogatory slurs Crowder had made about him.

Additionally, The Daily Citizen covered the story in January 2020 of the social media company TikTok which suspended the pro-life group Live Action from its platform. After banning the organization despite its 4.1 million followers, TikTok reversed course, apologized and reinstated Live Action.

Live Action has also been targeted by Facebook after the social media company labeled a post by Lila Rose (Live Action’s founder) as stating that abortion was “never medically necessary” as “false.”

Asked for a response to the proposed panel, Facebook told The Journal, “People on both sides of the aisle disagree with some of the positions we’ve taken, but we remain committed to seeking outside perspectives and communicating clearly about why we make the decisions we do.”

Twitter also told The Journal, “We enforce the Twitter rules impartially for all users, regardless of their background or political affiliation. We are constantly working to improve our systems and will continue to be transparent and in regular communication with elected officials in regard to our efforts.”

Some tech giants have taken notice of the repeated criticism about the unequal treatment conservative voices seem to receive in Silicon Valley.

On October 16, 2019 The Daily Citizen wrote about how Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had been having high-level meetings with prominent conservatives and Republican politicians to hear their concerns over online bias. Zuckerberg had meetings with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Tucker Carlson, Hugh Hewitt, Ben Shapiro, Brent Bozell and Byron York.

What do you think of the Trump Administration’s proposal? Do social media platforms need to be investigated for bias against conservative voices?