WASHINGTON, D.C. (FOX News) – A House subcommittee hearing to discuss censorship by tech companies on Thursday turned volatile between Republicans and Democrats, along with a Presidential candidate.
Democratic Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the invited guest speaker at the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. Kennedy claims the Biden administration tried to censor comments he made about vaccines, along with information that is inconvenient to the government.
Kennedy Jr. had been removed previously from Instagram over comments against vaccines, and has faced criticism for debunked and misleading claims about the health risks with vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic. He was reinstated to Instagram after announcing his campaign.
The hearing got off to a testy start when Democrat Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida tried to stop the hearing to discuss Kennedy Jr.’s alleged violation of House rules that bans testimony that defames or degrades others. The move was unsuccessful and the hearing continued.
Kennedy Jr. testified at the hearing about the role of the First Amendment.
“It is the basis for democracy. It sets us apart from all the previous forms of government. We need to be able to talk. And the First Amendment was not meant for easy speech. It was written for the speech that no one likes you for,” Kennedy Jr. said.
Republican Congressman Thomas Massie discussed his claims that there’s collusion between tech and social media companies and the Biden administration to censor the speech of conservatives.
“The irony and cognitive dissonance from the other side of the aisle, it’s deafening. You could cut it with a knife,” Massie said. “They are at the same time denying that censorship is occurring, but suggesting that there’s more material that needs to be censored.”
Democrats countered the arguments from their Republican colleagues. Representative Linda Sanchez of California says there is no absolute right to free speech in the United States.
“You do not have the right to shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theater, because it could produce harm and death of people by being false. These social media platforms have user policies to try and prevent that kind of harm,” Sanchez said.
Democrat Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett claimed at the hearing that Republicans are using the hearing as a ploy to help their chances in the 2024 Presidential election.
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