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Ted Cruz calls for criminal investigation of Twitter

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Photo: Alex Wroblewski/Getty ImagesSen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), in a Friday to the Justice and Treasury departments, is calling for a criminal investigation of Twitter over allegations the company is violating U.S. sanctions against Iran.Why it matters: Twitter is already under fire from President Trump for adding fact checks and a warning label, respectively, to misleading and incendiary tweets he made in recent days. Cruz's letter adds another dimension to the tech company's woes in Washington.Details: Twitter allows Iranian leaders to maintain accounts on its service, and Cruz is asking Attorney General Bill Barr and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to probe whether that violates U.S. sanctions prohibiting American companies from providing goods or services to the country's top officials.The big picture: Twitter has said it's in the public interest to have political figures' speech on its platform, even if some find that speech objectionable. Background: Cruz from Republican senators to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in February, calling on the company to ban Iranian leaders, including Khamenei and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The senators suggested providing the accounts may violate U.S. sanctions.Flashback: Cruz on the Pro Rata podcast last year to discuss allegations that major tech platforms are biased against conservatives.Twitter said Friday morning that a tweet from President Trump in which he threatened shooting in response to civil unrest in Minneapolis . The company said it was leaving the tweet up in the public interest. Why it matters: The move exacerbates tensions between Twitter and Trump over the company's authority to label or limit his speech and, conversely, the president's authority to dictate rules for a private company.Twitter slapped a fact-check label on a pair of months-old from a Chinese government spokesperson that falsely suggested that the coronavirus originated in the U.S. and was brought to Wuhan by the U.S. military, directing users to "get the facts about COVID-19."Why it matters: The labels were added after criticism that Twitter had fact-checked tweets from President Trump about mail-in voting, but not other false claims from Chinese Communist Party officials and other U.S. adversaries. President Trump said in the Oval Office Thursday that he would seek to shut down Twitter if it continued to not be "honorable" in its fact-checking and if there was a legal way to do so.Reality check: Trump does not have the unilateral power to shut down social media platforms. that doing so would be a violation of the First Amendment.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Photo: Alex Wroblewski/Getty ImagesSen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), in a Friday to the Justice and Treasury departments, is calling for a criminal investigation of Twitter over allegations the company is violating U.S. sanctions against Iran.Why it matters: Twitter is already under fire from President Trump for adding fact checks and a warning label, respectively, to misleading and incendiary tweets he made in recent days. Cruz's letter adds another dimension to the tech company's woes in Washington.Details: Twitter allows Iranian leaders to maintain accounts on its...

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Ted Cruz calls for criminal investigation of Twitter

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