WHEREAS, social media platforms are private businesses and if forced by the United States Government to carry or promote speech those actions by the United States Government should be exposed and investigated for potentially violations of civil and criminal law,

WHEREAS, President Joe Biden said to social media platforms that they “are killing people” by hosting comments on COVID with which the White House disagrees.

WHEREAS, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy described conflicting COVID information as “an imminent and insidious threat to our nation’s health,”

WHEREAS, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, Facebook has a duty to “promote quality information sources in their feed algorithm,”

WHEREAS, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “We’ve increased disinformation research and tracking within the surgeon general’s office,”

WHEREAS, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation. We’re working with doctors and medical professionals to connect medical experts who are popular with our audiences with accurate information and boost trusted content—so we are helping get trusted content out there,”

WHEREAS, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “We are in regular touch with these social media platforms, and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff, but also members of our COVID-19 team,”

WHEREAS, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki threatened a “robust enforcement strategy” against online social media businesses,

WHEREAS, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki threatened social media businesses by saying “I don’t think we’ve taken any options off the table. That’s up to Congress to determine how they want to proceed moving forward…We are not in a war or a battle with Facebook. We are in a battle with the virus. The problem we’re seeing that our Surgeon General elevated last week is that… inaccurate information about vaccines is killing people,”

WHEREAS, social media platforms have removed tens of millions of pieces of content related to COVID information following comments and conversations with the Biden White House,

NOW, THEREFORE LET IT BE RESOLVED, the {legislative body} of the state of {name of state} urges Congress to empanel an investigation into the extent to which the Biden White House pressured social media platforms to restrict and remove information and comments related to COVID. This investigation should also identify whether the Biden White House violated Federal civil and criminal laws, including the First Amendment rights of these businesses, when it pressured social media platforms to restrict and remove information and comments related to COVID.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the {legislative body} of the state of {name of state} urges the US Department of Justice to investigate the extent to which the Biden White House pressured social media platforms to restrict and remove information and comments related to COVID. This investigation should also identify whether the Biden White House violated Federal civil and criminal laws when it pressured social media platforms to restrict and remove information and comments related to COVID.