Another government agency is investigating major technology companies and social media platforms for alleged violations of free speech rights through censoring content online as the Trump administration continues its push against alleged bias of conservative viewpoints.

The Federal Trade Commission announced it would be launching an investigation into the companies’ policies and user bans the agency said could be illegal. FTC chair Andrew Ferguson asked people to send in submissions of photos and documents detailing alleged violations of their free speech rights online.

“Tech firms should not be bullying their users,” Ferguson said in a statement. “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.”

The FTC’s investigation is the latest push by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans into tech platforms’ handling of content moderation and complaints of censorship over the last several years.

The Federal Communications Commission has also increased its scrutiny of major broadcast networks, reopening investigations and reviving lawsuits over past coverage decisions.

CBS had to release a full transcript of a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, and an investigation has been launched into NPR and PBS over allegations of airing advertisements that ran against federal regulations. NBC and ABC are also facing complaints for election coverage, NBC over Harris’s appearance on “Saturday Night Live” in an equal time dispute and ABC for its handling of a debate.

One of Trump’s first moves upon retaking office was signing an executive order aimed at “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship.” It bars the federal government from conduct that would “unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American” and directed the attorney general to investigate the Biden administration’s communications with tech companies and other actions.

House Republicans have also investigated how social media companies handled requests from the Biden administration to moderate content during the pandemic that GOP lawmakers see as a coordinated effort to leverage the federal government against viewpoints the White House didn’t like.

Handling of content moderation is a politically difficult endeavor for tech companies to navigate with Republicans criticizing them for censoring certain viewpoints and Democrats pushing platforms to do more to prevent misinformation online.

“It’s just very tricky. You have to have some rules, and there are legal obligations, and there are fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders — namely, keeping the platform so that advertisers want to be there,” said John Wihbey, an associate professor of media innovation at Northeastern University. “The government threats and the kind of dangling of constant threats to investigate, I’m not sure where the line is going to be.”

Social media companies have already backed off some of their preexisting guidelines on what is allowed to be posted on their platforms and scaled back fact-checking as Trump prepared to take office. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, announced it was rolling back its fact-checking program and removing restrictions after CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it had strayed too far from its core mission and was making too many mistakes.

Meta announced in a blog post on Thursday that it was starting to take sign-ups for its Community Notes program, where users can add context to posts to decide when they are misleading. X, formerly known as Twitter, made the same switch after it was purchased and taken private by Elon Musk.

Zuckerberg has also said he regretted not being more outspoken about “government pressure” to “censor” content on its platform. Republicans investigating tech companies have pounced on that statement after harsh criticism of its moderation choices during the pandemic, banning Trump from its platforms after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and the handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story.

The rollbacks in policies have been welcomed by the administration but have not soothed tensions with agencies or lawmakers.

Social media platforms rely heavily on advertising dollars for revenue and changes that could push more businesses off them presents a delicate balancing act with avoiding further government scrutiny.

“The platforms all take a huge risk in kowtowing to the administration on this because public perception and the perception of advertisers matters enormously to their bottom line,” Wihbey said. “If it’s a choice between just facing government pressure through jawboning and hearings and investigations, or losing some large percentage of their market cap, they may start to choose the former.”

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