Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., asked during a meeting about the bailout of Silicon Valley Bank whether social media could be censored to prevent misinformation going out that could lead to a bank run, according to reports.
According to Fox News, Michael Shellenberger, an independent journalist who reports on the Twitter files and has contributed to Fox News reported that Kelly asked the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and Federal Deposit and Insurance Corp (FDIC) about censorship measures during the meeting on Sunday.
Republican House members on the call confirmed with Shellenberger’s publication, Public on Substack, that a Democratic senator asked about censoring social media companies, including Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, though Kelly’s name was not specifically noted.
EXCLUSIVE: Senator Mark Kelly Called For Social Media Censorship To Prevent Bank Runs
Democrats are demanding ever-more censorship in a widening social media panichttps://t.co/M0xEK0b2vb
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) March 13, 2023
“Just got off a Zoom meeting with Fed, Treasury, FDIC, House and Senate,” Massie tweeted on Sunday. “A Democrat Senator essentially asked whether there was a program in place to censor information on social media that could lead to a run on the banks.”
After Shellenberger’s piece went out on Monday, Massie retweeted the story, saying, “His name.” Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., confirmed with the Public that it was Kelly who asked about the censorship. Like Massie, Bishop retweeted Shellenberger’s post calling Kelly out. Kelly’s camp denied the claim and said Sen. Kelly asked about foreign adversaries potentially trying to take advantage of the situation by spreading misinformation.
