Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in the U.S. have a long and troubled history with Facebook. So it’s not surprising that some conservative politicians are demanding to know how the White House has potentially pressured the social media giant to “censor” information surrounding controversial topics like the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential election.

“We remain concerned with attempts by your administration to pressure private companies like Twitter and Facebook to censor certain speech or silence individuals with whom you disagree,” the trio of representatives wrote in their letter. “We know that administration officials and federal bureaucrats requested these companies to censor legitimate news stories and public discourse regarding the COVID-19 pandemic under the guise of combatting misinformation, disinformation, and election interference.”

Of course, Facebook is no stranger to allegations of censorship. However, the company has faced increasingly politically motivated attacks following the last several elections, and no matter how hard it tries to correct its issues, it still ends up offending one party or another. At this point, it’s clear the company never should’ve taken on so much authority over the content we can and cannot see online. However, now that it’s in this predicament, Facebook needs to find a way to walk the tightrope of freely delivering information while removing spam, malware, hate speech, and more.

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