'Going to dig into this': Sen. Ron Johnson vows probe into federal effort to outsource censorship

Wisconsin Republican said if GOP takes back power in the House and Senate, they plan to look into feds using private entity to outsource censorship.

Published: September 30, 2022 6:52pm

Updated: October 1, 2022 12:23am

Sen. Ron Johnson, the top Republican on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation, is vowing to investigate revelation that federal agencies used a private entity to outsource online censorship during the last election.

Johnson reacted Friday night to a report by Just the News that four private groups worked with the departments of Homeland Security and State to censor massive numbers of social media posts they considered misinformation during the 2020 election.

"It looks like what the federal government is trying to do is skirt the law and try to figure out in some way, shape or form that it can impact and censor Americans, abridge their free speech," Johnson told the "Just the News, Not Noise" TV show. "I do not want the federal government to be the arbiters of truth."

ohnson said that the federal government working with private groups to censor people should trouble every American, and Republicans are going to continued to look into the issue.

"We're continuing to look into this," Johnson stated. "I'm glad that you opened up our eyes to this possibility. But we're going to dig into this because this is troubling."

Johnson referred to President Joe Biden as the "divider in chief" and that half of America is not made up of domestic terrorists.

"They should not be big brother." Johnson referred to the DHS. "They should be protecting our homeland against threats that are coming that are actually real, as opposed to these political threats that the Divider in Chief is always talking about."

"Half of Americans are not potential domestic terrorists," Johnson continued. "Half of Americans not are not semi- fascists. But that is exactly what the left is pushing on America. And unfortunately, they have the power within the administration to utilize those agencies."

Johnson said United States citizens shouldn't have to worry about these government agencies going after them for political views.

"We see the politicization of the FBI," said Johnson. This is a huge concern. This should be a huge concern to Americans because the awesome power of government is being used against its very own citizens."

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