Sen. Eric Schmitt testifies Biden administration led major 'censorship operation'

Missouri Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt testified Thursday to Congress that the Biden administration led "the largest speech censorship operation in recent American history," which he uncovered during his role as Missouri attorney general.

"The Biden Administration has led the largest speech censorship operation in recent American history," Schmitt said in his opening statement to the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. "Since taking office, President Biden and his team have labored to suppress viewpoints with which they disagree.  And in so doing, they have infringed upon the individual freedoms of millions of Americans."

As attorney general, Schmitt joined with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry to file the Missouri v. Biden lawsuit targeting government censorship. The two Republicans testified about their findings Thursday.

Schmitt said that the Biden administration "colluded with social media giants Meta, Twitter, and YouTube to censor free speech in the name of combating so-called 'disinformation' and 'misinformation,' which led to the suppression and censorship of truthful information on a scale never before seen."

The state plaintiffs had a victory earlier this month, when U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty allowed the case to go forward and all but one challenge to the case was knocked down.