House Judiciary Committee Subpoenas Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in Tech Censorship Probe

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed Alphabet Inc. and its CEO Sundar Pichai as part of its ongoing investigation into the tech industry’s relationship with the Biden administration. The subpoena, issued on Thursday, seeks documents related to communications between the company or Pichai and the previous administration. Republicans have accused the administration of attempting to censor Americans' speech, alleging that tech companies, including Alphabet, were involved in moderating content under the influence of the Biden administration.

The committee has requested the documents by March 28, specifically looking for information on “moderation, deletion, suppression, restriction, or reduced circulation of content,” according to the subpoena. In response, José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, said the company will continue to demonstrate how it independently enforces its policies, grounded in a commitment to free expression.

Last year, documents obtained by the Judiciary Committee revealed that the Biden administration had urged companies, including Meta Platforms, to remove certain online posts related to the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming they contained dangerous misinformation. However, Republicans argue that these actions were aimed at censoring conservative speech.

The subpoena targets communications between YouTube and Google, subsidiaries of Alphabet, and the Biden administration, along with relevant internal discussions. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan emphasized in a letter that these communications are critical for crafting effective legislation, possibly including new statutory limits on the executive branch’s ability to work with Big Tech to restrict content circulation and deplatform users.

Pichai, who attended Donald Trump’s inauguration alongside other major tech CEOs, including Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, has come under scrutiny as Republicans continue to probe the tech companies. The House Judiciary Committee’s actions reflect ongoing Republican concerns about the relationship between Big Tech and the government, particularly regarding conservative speech.

In addition, the committee recently issued subpoenas to major tech companies like Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and X Corp. as part of a broader investigation into their communications with foreign governments.