The Senate State Affairs Committee approved the subpoenas after hearing testimony alleging that large tech companies endorse certain political candidates.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas senators are working to protect Texans from political bias by big tech companies ahead of the upcoming election.
The Senate State Affairs Committee on Wednesday approved a motion to issue subpoenas to major tech companies including Alphabet Inc, Meta Inc, TikTok Inc and X Inc.
In a post on the social media platform “X,” Republican state Sen. Brian Hughes voiced his support for the unanimous approval of the motion.
“There is compelling evidence that big tech companies are pushing their own biases, manipulating and suppressing dissent, and undermining the integrity of our elections. Texas will not tolerate that.There was a post titled “.”
Related: Texas commission studies impact of AI and how to expand its use within state agencies
Why is the Senate State Affairs Committee meeting?
The items discussed by the Senate State Affairs Committee are part of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's interim agenda, which is issues the lieutenant governor wants the Senate to consider before next year's legislative session begins.
Beyond Big Tech, the committee said other issues threatening the security of Texas elections include an evaluation of the state's countywide polling place program and current laws that prohibit public school districts from using government resources for illegal election activity.
The protection of Texas land and property is also a key issue. The committee has addressed the safety and security threats posed by foreign land ownership in the state, an issue that has sparked debate over the affordability of housing in Texas.
The third major issue discussed was banning Delta 8 and 9 THC products in Texas and prohibiting retailers from selling the products to children.
Big Tech's Election Threat
For much of the meeting, the State Affairs Committee invited several experts to testify about their views that big tech companies threaten election security. Dan Schneider, vice president of the Media Research Center, an organization that documents and exposes media bias and censorship by big tech companies, said his research has shown that Google is creating biased algorithms.
“Big tech platforms like Google and Facebook have a preferred candidate, a preferred candidate, and any candidate that gets in the way of that candidate will be censored and any content that supports that candidate will be silenced,” Schneider said.
Zach Voorhies, who worked as a software engineer at Google for 8.5 years, also testified that Google has created biased algorithms that favor certain candidates. He also testified that Google has many blacklists and ranks news media sites. He claimed that news sites that support the Democratic Party are ranked the highest in the United States.
Others who testified said elections have been handed over to big tech companies since 2012. Dr. Robert Epstein, a senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, testified that Google's algorithms could tip the outcome of elections and sway millions of votes without people knowing.
“This is a new type of subconscious manipulation, and it's happening on a scale never before seen,” Dr Epstein said. “It doesn't just affect Americans, it affects over 5 billion people around the world…Google doesn't always favor the left, they pick and choose who they want to favor to suit their company. In Cuba, they favor the right.”
All of the testimony prompted questions from senators, including some who questioned speakers about whether Texas law could even force Google to provide unbiased searches in Texas.
The other two recommendations the speakers made to the committee were to subpoena the companies, which the committee approved, and to require big tech companies to establish local liaison offices in Texas to get a closer look at what goes on behind closed doors at some tech companies.
RELATED: In Georgia, it's illegal for anyone other than poll workers to provide water to voters within a certain distance of a polling place.
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