The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asked the American people to submit comments on the threats of online censorship, and a Facebook whistleblower responded with strong condemnations of attacks on free speech.
In February, FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson announced a public inquiry into Big Tech targeting of users based on their exercise of First Amendment rights. Now, with the comment period closed, the FTC received a whistleblower testimony from former Facebook censor Ryan Hartwig on how censorship on Meta-owned platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp affected Americans.
Hartwig was very frank in his reply to the public inquiry about the “deeply troubling pattern of censorship and bias by Facebook, targeting users based on their political beliefs and affiliations.” His comments are supported by MRC Free Speech America’s CensorTrack, a tool that has recorded over 8,200 instances of censorship cases and was also submitted to the FTC inquiry.
Earlier this year, Ferguson emphasized the public inquiry as a crucial step in addressing Big Tech censorship, which was a key focus of the Trump administration's policy agenda. “Tech firms should not be bullying their users,” he said. “This inquiry will help the FTC better understand how these firms may have violated the law by silencing and intimidating Americans for speaking their minds.”
Facebook allowed content bashing President Donald Trump and his supporters on the platform while critiques of leftist politicians were not, Hartwig explained. Celebrities like climate activist Greta Thunberg were exempted from some rules or specifically shielded. According to Hartwig, “These tools created a two-tiered system where elites were protected, and ordinary users—especially those with conservative views—were silenced.”
He said that Facebook “actively monitored political events like Trump’s State of the Union address, the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, and the Democratic debates, instructing moderators to watch for ‘hate speech’ that might arise in response. In practice, this meant preemptively suppressing conservative reactions.” Some political content, including posts about abortion and immigration, was restricted from monetization.
Such practices, Hartwig argued, “are not just biased—they’re deceptive and harmful.” He asserted that Facebook and other anti-free speech platforms undermine trust, harm users financially and socially, and restrict citizens’ political ability to speak in the online public square.
“When a tech company can unilaterally decide which viewpoints are acceptable and which are not—especially based on activities that take place outside the platform—it becomes a threat to free speech and fair competition,” he stated. “Facebook’s ability to influence public opinion, suppress dissent, and favor certain ideologies over others gives it immense power—power that must be held accountable.”
The Daily Signal on Sunday shared other comments posted on the FTC page, including those of The Epoch Times CEO Janice Trey, who described having content banned from or restricted on YouTube, Google and Facebook over the years.
“Our experience raises critical questions about the power of tech platforms to influence public discourse, the lack of transparency in content moderation policies, and the viability of independent journalism in a world governed by opaque algorithms,” Trey wrote.
Daniel Cochrane, a senior research associate at The Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center, argued that shadowbanning or secretive suppression of content is an unfair trade practice and should be so designated.
Next News Network executive director Gary Franchi noted that his company was “directly and repeatedly harmed by opaque and discriminatory moderation practices imposed by major technology platforms.”
MRC Free Speech America Associate Editor Luis Cornelio contributed to this story.
Conservatives are under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
