CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has written a letter urging 12 cable, satellite and streaming companies to reject pressure from two members of Congress to remove certain conservative news networks from their viewing offerings.
The move stems from a recent letter to those same companies from two members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Morrisey argues the California congressional representatives overstepped their authority by pressuring the industry to engage in dangerous, anticompetitive and collusive censorship of conservative daily news programming.
“My colleagues and I will not allow collusive anticompetitive activities to run wild, especially when the consequences mean that millions of Americans are deprived of diverse political content they wish to enjoy—content that lies at the heart of political discourse in America,” Morrisey wrote in the February 24 letters.
Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney, both Democrats from California, recently sent letters to the same companies asking why they carry conservative news channels, saying Fox News, One America News Network and Newsmax disseminated misinformation about the presidential election and COVID-19.
Both Eshoo and McNerney are members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, which had a hearing February 24 called “Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media.”
Morrisey contends his duty to enforce the state’s antitrust laws means he would oppose any collusive and anticompetitive conduct that may arise in West Virginia due to the congressional letter.
In his letters, Morrisey said the letter from Eshoo and McNerney contained "highly intrusive information requests" and "thinly-veiled threats." He says the two are playing "a very dangerous game."
"The two Representatives ask nothing less than for you and other companies to reincarnate the Hollywood blacklist, this time wielded by content conveyors and aimed at conservative voices," Morrisey wrote. "The First Amendment safeguards against the government simply punishing speech or outlets that it disagrees with.
He sent his letter to executives at Alphabet Inc., Altice USA, Amazon, Apple Inc., AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable Corporation, Cox Communications, Dish Network Corporation, Hulu, Roku and Verizon.