McCaul’s report cards give Twitter a D-, YouTube a C- and Facebook a C+

Washington, D.C.- In March of this year, House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul contacted the top three American social media companies – Twitter, Facebook and YouTube (Google) – and asked them to deplatform Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials and propaganda outlets who were misusing their outlets to push disinformation and promote their own propaganda. After more than two months of engagement with these companies, today Rep. McCaul is releasing his assessment of their willingness to address CCP disinformation and propaganda on their platforms.

“The Chinese Communist Party has weaponized American social media platforms to push their disinformation and promote their propaganda. The solution is simple – deplatform CCP officials and propagandists who consistently spread lies,” said Lead Republican Michael McCaul. “Sadly, while we had some positive conversations and some steps have been taken, these companies have chosen to allow CCP officials to continue to operate on their sites instead of doing what’s right. We will continue to encourage American social media companies to deplatform CCP officials and propaganda outlets who are misusing their sites in an attempt to undermine the United States.”

Each social media company was graded on four criteria:

  1. Labeling for propaganda/state-funded propaganda outlets;
  2. Blocking CCP officials/state-funded propaganda outlets from having verified accounts;
  3. Factchecking policies for truthfulness; and
  4. Comprehensive removal of  CCP propaganda and disinformation.                                                                       

Based on this grading model, Twitter received a D-, Facebook received at C+, and YouTube received a C-. 

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