As new batches of \u201cTwitter Files\u201d continue to demonstrate the extent to which Big Tech is working with US intelligence agencies to censor and ban those accused of spreading \u201cdisinformation,\u201d the former US president has said the revelations \u201cprove that we urgently need my plan to dismantle the illegal censorship regime\u201d in America.
\nFormer US President Donald Trump is calling on leaders in Congress to look into the ways the FBI and other government agencies colluded with Big Tech companies to stifle Americans\u2019 free speech.
\n\u201cThe new Congress should immediately hold hearings to investigate the role of the FBI and other federal agencies in censoring lawful speech,\u201d Trump said in a video message published Wednesday.
\n\u201cCongressional leaders should promptly issue subpoenas in furtherance of this goal.\u201d
\nIn addition, Trump called for \u201ca 7-year cooling off period before any employee of these powerful agencies is allowed to take a job at a major platform.\u201d
\nBREAKING: Trump releases new statement slamming the FBI and other agencies for colluding with big tech to censor Americans and violating our first amendment rights.
\npic.twitter.com\/XsrcCrpg56
\n\u2014 Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr)\u00a0January 11, 2023
\nThe message came just a day after the House of Representatives voted along party lines to create the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, an effort that has drawn comparisons to the famed Church Committee that investigated the CIA in the 1970s.
\nThe panel will probe the extent to which US government agencies worked to \u201ccollect, compile, analyze, use, or disseminate information about citizens of the United States, including any unconstitutional, illegal, or unethical activities committed against citizens of the United States.\u201d
\nTrump’s call to action made frequent reference to the Twitter Files, an ongoing series of reports into collusion between the social media giant and the US government.
\nDocuments published in the course of the mammoth investigation have shown the FBI paid Twitter millions of dollars to suspend the accounts of users it accused of violating the platform\u2019s policies.
\n\u201cAs recent reporting shows, the FBI and other rogue agencies have been systematically colluding with former national security officials placed in high positions \u2013 at Twitter and, very likely, other companies \u2013 to advance their censorship regime\u201d and \u201csteal an election,\u201d Trump noted in his address.<\/p>\n