Raskin asks Google, Meta, X and TikTok to act on false mail-voting claims; White House calls it censorship

By Philippa Langstrom

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, has asked four of the largest technology companies to enforce their own election policies against claims that lawfully cast mail-in ballots will not be counted, including claims made by President Donald Trump. The White House called the request an attempt at censorship.

“Once again, the radical left is trying to censor speech that they don’t agree with,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement to The Washington Times, which reported that Raskin wrote to Google, Meta, X and TikTok. Bis said the president was making clear that anyone who votes illegally will be held accountable, according to the newspaper.

Trump has argued that mail voting invites fraud. Raskin’s letter quotes the president’s statement that “elections can never be honest with mail in ballots/voting.” In September the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s mail-voting restrictions for this year’s midterms, NPR reported.

Raskin’s letter to Google, dated Oct. 22 and addressed to Laurie Richardson, the company’s vice president for trust and safety, says the president “has falsely claimed” that elections cannot be honest with mail ballots. “Make no mistake: our election system is essentially secure, and Americans should be confident that their timely vote, whether by mail or otherwise, will be counted,” Raskin wrote.

What the letter asks

The letter points to Google’s advertising policy, which bars “claims that are demonstrably false and could significantly undermine participation or trust in an electoral or democratic process,” and to YouTube’s community guidelines on content that misleads voters about how to vote. “Ads or videos suggesting that a lawfully cast mail-in ballot will not be counted—even if made by senior Republican officials—are not a matter of opinion,” Raskin wrote. “They are false statements that clearly fall within your own prohibitions and standards.”

Raskin asked Google to schedule a briefing with the committee’s Democratic staff by 5 p.m. on Oct. 29 and to answer five questions:

• What steps it is taking before the election to enforce the policy and remove false information about voting;
• Whether it has added staff or other capacity to enforce the policy;
• Whether the policy covers posts that misrepresent the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on mail voting;
• Whether it is tracking trends in false election information, including on YouTube; and
• Whether anyone in the U.S. government or on the White House staff has approached the company about its election policies in the past 12 months.

The letter notes that more than a third of American voters cast ballots by mail, citing the States United Democracy Center, and that the election was “just 12 days” away when it was sent. It also blames the administration’s cuts to election security programs for weakening state and local officials’ ability to respond to disinformation. As ranking member, Raskin is in the minority and cannot compel answers; the letter was copied to the committee’s chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.

The debate over platform moderation

The exchange revives a long-running fight over whether pressure from lawmakers on platforms to remove content amounts to government censorship. The Washington Times headlined its report “House Democrat asks social media to censor Trump’s mail voting claims.” Raskin’s letter frames the request as asking companies to apply rules they have already adopted, and it praises a September statement from Google that it was “focused on helping voters find reliable information.”

Raskin, who represents Maryland’s 8th District in Montgomery County, is on the ballot Nov. 3. His campaign committee reported $7.9 million in cash on hand as of Oct. 14.

Comment

The Washington Inquisitor has asked Raskin’s campaign, Google, Meta, NetChoice, Public Knowledge and the States United Democracy Center for comment. X and TikTok do not publish a press email address the Inquisitor could verify. The White House’s response is quoted above from its statement to The Washington Times; the Inquisitor will seek further White House comment and update this story with any response.

Photo: Rep. Jamie Raskin, official portrait (2019). Leah Herman / U.S. House of Representatives, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.