Matt Gaetz is calling for a criminal investigation of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly lying to Congress about social media bias against conservative.
Read About Ivanka Trump's Plotting To Return To The White House On THE DAILY
Â
The Republican congressman has written to Attorney General William Barr accusing Zuckerberg of making false statements during congressional appearances.
Gaetz claims Zuckerberg “repeatedly and categorically denied any bias against conservative speech, persons, policies or politics.”
“On both occasions, members of Congress asked Mr. Zuckerberg about allegations that Facebook censored and suppressed content supportive of President Donald Trump and other conservatives,” Gaetz wrote.
“Mr. Zuckerberg also dismissed the suggestion that Facebook exercises any form of editorial manipulation.”
Zuckerberg denied allegations that Facebook targets conservatives during a Senate appearance in 2018.
“I understand where that concern is coming from, because Facebook and the tech industry are located in Silicon Valley, which is an extremely left-leaning place,” Zuckerberg said at the time.
“And this is actually a concern that I have, and that I try to root out in the company, is making sure that we don’t have any bias in the work that we do. And I think it is a fair concern that people would at least wonder about.”
There is very little evidence of systemic bias against conservative content on social media. However, Republicans have continued to push the issue and used congressional power to do so.
Follow Darragh Roche on Twitter
Darragh Roche is a journalist covering U.S. politics and media
