Ron Johnson: Senate Democrats will do nothing to preserve free speech

Senator Ron Johnson said he hasn't seen any evidence that Democrats will try to stop censorship as Republicans call for more protections for free speech online following Twitter Files revelations.

'I don't see anything the Democrats are going to do to cooperate in trying to preserve free speech in this country,' Johnson said, according to The Washington Times.

'They may give lip service to free speech, but they're not for it,' he continued. 'They're all for censoring conservative thought.'

Meanwhile across the Capitol, Representative Jim Jordan plans to call Twitter executives to testify after internal documents show the platform was regularly 'shadow banning' and blacklisting conservative accounts.

Jordan's aides told the Times that the future chairman of the House Judiciary Committee plans to summon individuals to testify who were involved in the move to ban right-leaning accounts.

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson says he isn't holding his breath that Democrats will move to try and stop online censorship since the issue mostly effects Republicans 

It's likely Jordan will also use his post in the 118th Congress to probe the decision by Twitter to suppress the New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop story the month before the 2020 presidential election.

Senator Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, was once censored on YouTube for posting congressional testimony related to early CVID-19 treatments. He has in the past questioned Big Tech executives about censorship ahead of the last presidential election.

He told the Times that since House Republicans will hold a majority come January, they should use their power to pass legislation that would 'make it explicit in law that the federal government can't collude with these social media companies to infringe on free speech, which is what's been happening.'

Johnson isn't confident that Democrats will want to crack down on censorship because it disproportionately silences conservative voices over liberals.

Johnson wants Republicans in the House to use their power in the upcoming Congress to pass legislation that would 'make it explicit in law that the federal government can't collude with these social media companies to infringe on free speech'

In a continued show of force to hold Twitter accountable, the Oversight and Reform Committee also plans to seek testimony of former executives who played a role in suppressing conservative voices.

GOP Representative James Comer, who will now service as chairman of the panel, told the Times her plans to invite Twitter's former deputy general counsel and former FBI General Counsel James Baker to testify.

He also plans to call former Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde and former head of site integrity Yoel Roth, who are mentioned throughout the explosive 'Twitter Files,' which reveal internal communication and a breakdown in what led to suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story and Donald Trump's eventual ban from the platform.

'Americans deserve answers about Twitter's attack on the First Amendment,' Comer said.