Washington, D.C.– Today Congressman Michael Cloud (TX-27) sent a letter to Twitter’s Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey inquiring into the company’s “fact-check” labeling process. The letter specifically calls out Twitter for not placing a label on President Biden’s tweet claiming that his “Build Back Better Plan will cost zero dollars and add zero dollars to the national debt.” The letter also demands a briefing of Twitter’s methodology for fact-checking before October 23, 2021. 

In August of 2021 Twitter announced: “…it would begin working with two International Fact-Checking Network Code of Principles signatories: Reuters and The Associated Press. According to a press release from the AP, Twitter will work closely with the two organizations to surface their fact checks in Twitter Moments, trends and “other surfaces within the platform.” Though this change is designed to ensure that fact-checking is more independent, many still question the ability of the company to fact-check without bias. 

“The fact that such an egregious tweet claiming that the ‘Build Back Better” plan will cost $0 was left unchecked demonstrates the need for Twitter to be more transparent with its operations to the American people,” said Congressman Cloud. “Americans can rightfully question the company’s fact-checking standards and whether they are unbiased, especially considering that the company was quick to fact-check the previous President. We hope that Twitter can at the very least give more insight into its decision-making behind labeling content that is being widely disputed.”  

“If Twitter is to continue this fact-checking practice, it should apply the same standards across all tweets—especially those accounts with a follower base as large as that of the United States President.” said the lawmakers in the letter. “The company made it a priority to “fact-check” the previous president. Why isn’t the same standard being applied now?

Congressman Cloud was appointed in July 2021 to the Republican Task Force on Big Tech Censorship and Data by House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.). The Task Force is committed to investigating issues related to Big Tech, including content censorship and data privacy.

The letter was co-signed by Representatives Randy Weber (R-TX), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Barry Loudermilk (R-GA),  Bill Posey (R-FL), Jody Hice (R-GA),  Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Mo Brooks (R-AL).

Click HERE for a copy of the letter.

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