Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., told Newsmax on Friday that free speech is the one issue standing out now that will play a role during the 2024 elections.
Comer, the ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, told "American Agenda" free speech is "certainly going to be an issue in the next presidential election."
Since Elon Musk bought Twitter in October, he has revealed evidence the U.S. government coordinated with the social media platform to silence conservative voices, and also suppress a negative story about President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, before the 2020 presidential race.
Also, former President Donald Trump on Thursday night unveiled in a video posted on his Truth Social account his free speech policy that will "shatter the left-wing censorship regime and reclaim the right to free speech for all Americans."
"I think that we need to protect free speech," Comer said. "I mean, that's how countries start to fail and start to fold is when the government comes in and tries to suppress free speech. ... We had a government agency, the FBI, that has been actively coordinating with social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter.
"Were they coordinating with The Washington Post? Were they coordinating with The New York Times? You know, I don't know.
"That's something we need to find out and we need to stop and hold those government employees accountable because in no way, shape or form should the government ever be censoring speech. Whether it be conservative speech or liberal speakers."
Comer said House Republicans in the 118th Congress will need to closely look at Section 230, which provides social media companies legal protections from content posted on their sites.
"Big Tech has always been an issue for Republicans in the new majority," he said. "Next year we're going to have to reform Big Tech and we're going to have to look at the liability protections that they received. It's not OK to censor conservatives or liberals in a private company if you enjoy certain liability protections like Facebook and Twitter."
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