Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is filing a complaint against Twitter with the Federal Election Commission after it was revealed that his own account was being shadowbanned by Twitter.
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Rep. Gaetz argued earlier this week that he believes that Twitter may have illegally donated to the campaigns of his opponents by prejudicing against his content and limiting his social media visibility. An investigation from the far-left Vice Magazine found that only conservatives users were being subjected to the Twitter search limiting that impacted Gaetz.
The tech company has denied that they are shadowbanning conservatives, while admitting to limiting the visibility of certain accounts. In May, the company began using “behavior-based signals” to determine which accounts should be limited and which ones should be boosted “to improve the health of the public conversation on Twitter.”
“The evidence is piling up that I am being treated differently on Twitter than people on the political Left and I don’t like that because I enjoy the Twitter platform, I enjoy the engagement, I enjoy the candor,” Representative Gaetz told the Daily Caller prior to filing his complaint. “I would think that having won my election with 69 percent of the vote to serve in the Congress that the marketplace of ideas could accommodate my views.”
“So I believe that Twitter may have illegally donated to the campaigns of my opponents by prejudicing against my content,” he added.
On Friday, Gaetz appeared on Tucker Carlson to announce that he has filed the complaint.
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Speaking on Twitter’s “troll trap,” Gaetz explained that this gives political rivals an unfair advantage. He compared it to a billboard company refusing to provide space for one party, which the FEC would consider to be an illegal corporate donation.
