WH press secretary says Biden admin is 'keeping a close eye' on Elon Musk's Twitter
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the Biden administration is "keeping a close eye" on Elon Musk's Twitter over concerns about "misinformation" on the platform.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said it is "offensive" that the White House plans to monitor Elon Musk’s Twitter, stressing that Republicans "will no longer let government go after people simply because of their political views."
McCarthy, R-Calif., after a meeting at the White House Tuesday with President Biden, Vice President Harris and congressional leaders, was asked about White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's comments Monday that the White House would be "keeping a close eye" on Twitter under Musk.
"That is offensive to me," McCarthy said. "The government’s going to go after someone who wants to have free speech? What do they have to look at Twitter about? Do they want to go after the American public about whether they can have an opinion on something?"
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said: "One thing I would say when we talk about accountability – we will no longer let government go after people simply because of their political views." (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
"I think our First Amendment stands up, and I think they should stop picking on Elon," McCarthy said, adding that Musk has "succeeded in many places."
He added: "One thing I would say when we talk about accountability – we will no longer let government go after people simply because of their political views."
New Twitter owner Elon Musk (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
McCarthy’s comments come after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday addressed Twitter under Musk.
"This is something that we're certainly keeping an eye on," Jean-Pierre said. "Look, we have always been very clear that when it comes to social media platforms it is their responsibility to make sure that when it comes to misinformation, when it comes to the hate that we’re seeing, that they take action, that they continue to take action. Again, we're all keeping a close eye on this."
She continued, "We're all monitoring what’s currently occurring. We see it with our own eyes of what you all are reporting and just for ourselves what is happening on Twitter."
McCarthy’s comments come after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday addressed Twitter under Musk. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
"Again, we’re all keeping a close eye on this," she continued. "We are all monitoring what’s currently occurring."
Musk has reinstated a number of Twitter accounts that had previously been suspended since taking over as CEO, including former President Trump’s.
MUSK SAYS APPLE STOPPED TWITTER ADS, THREATENS TO ‘WITHHOLD’ IT FROM APP STORE
Twitter, though, under Musk’s leadership, has seen advertisers pull content from the social media platform, and has faced threats from Apple to remove the app from its app store should it violate the company's content moderation practices.
"Social media companies have a responsibility to prevent their platforms from being used by any user to incite violence, especially violence directed at individual communities as we have been seeing, and the president has been very clear on calling that out," Jean-Pierre said Monday. "He’ll continue to do that, and we’re going to continue to monitor the situation".
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Musk, on Monday, tweeted in response: "Why are so many in the media against free speech? This is messed up."
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