Steube Pens Letter Calling Parler Probe ‘Overtly Partisan'

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Representatives Greg Steube (R-FL) and James Comer (R-KY) sent a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) Monday regarding her recent request to the FBI calling for an investigation of the social media platform Parler for its possible connection to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol building riot, a news release from Steube’s office said.

The representatives asked that any investigations regarding social media platform roles on Jan. 6 also include Twitter and Facebook.

“Casting blame on a single social media company known for its conservative user base is blatantly and overtly partisan,” said Steube, who lives in Sarasota. “All social media platforms should be investigated for any roles in organized violence — whether at the U.S. Capitol or over the summer in liberal cities across the country.”

The letter refers to Facebook posts and private groups that encouraged the siege of the U.S. Capitol, and maintains that mainstream social media companies actually profited from the Jan. 6 attack through increased engagement on their platforms, the news release said.

Maloney and other congressional Democrats didn’t call for similar investigations into social media platforms during the violent riots that occurred in liberal cities throughout the summer and fall, according to Steube’s news release.

Steube has called for Big Tech accountability with his recent reintroduction of the CASE-IT Act, which would hold technology companies accountable for unfair conservative censorship and promote free speech.