A CCTV screenshot showing intruders dressed in black, one wielding a sledge-hammer, damaging printing press equipment at the print shop of the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times on April 12, 2021.(The Epoch Times) China-US News

By Cathy He April 12, 2021 Updated: April 12, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

U.S. lawmakers on April 12 condemned the latest attack on The Epoch Times’ printing press in Hong Kong, saying it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was behind the incident in an attempt to silence reporting that’s critical of the regime.

In the early hours on April 12, four men wearing face masks—two of whom wielded sledgehammers—barged into the printing warehouse and smashed machinery and computers for around two minutes before leaving with a computer.

No staff members were injured during the incident.

The intruders caused extensive damage, and the newspaper’s Hong Kong edition has been forced to suspend its operations for the foreseeable future.

The attack is the fifth time the site has been vandalized since its establishment in 2006, and came less than 18 months after four masked intruders set fire to the same facility during the height of the pro-democracy protests in the city. Those perpetrators were never caught.

“The repeated, violent attacks on The Epoch Times shock the conscience,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “Clearly, the Chinese Communist Party and its street thugs cannot abide any media outlet reporting the facts about the Party’s depredations.”

With much of Hong Kong’s media exhibiting pro-Beijing leanings in recent years, the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times is one of the few independent media in the city that covers the CCP’s abuses in mainland China, Hong Kong, and abroad.

“At a time when America’s corporate media have adopted the self-righteous slogan ‘speak truth to power,’ The Epoch Times has the courage to actually do it, and they are paying a high price for sticking to their principles,” Nunes said.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) described the CCP’s rule as a “thugocracy” that “relies on intimidation, extortion, and violence to suppress freedom and those who strive for truth and self-government by consent.”

“It would be no surprise if the CCP were behind such an attack as they consistently seek to extinguish any light that exposes the dark sea of repression that keeps their illegitimate government afloat,” Perry said in an emailed statement.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) described the attack as “reprehensible.”

“The freedom of the press in Hong Kong is under attack from the Chinese Communist Party,” Banks said in a statement.

Press freedom in Hong Kong has gradually eroded since the city was transferred from British to CCP rule in 1997. Once a bastion of press freedom in Asia, the city has fallen to its current ranking at 80th place in the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, from 18th in 2002.

The slide was a result of “pressure from Beijing,” according to the nonprofit.

Meanwhile, the CCP’s imposition of a draconian national security law has sparked fears of a further tightening of press freedom in the city. The law, which took effect last July, punishes what Beijing deems to be acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, or collusion with foreign forces, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Since then, dozens of pro-democracy figures, including media mogul Jimmy Lai, have been charged or convicted under the legislation or similar laws.

Last month, the Chinese regime introduced sweeping changes to the city’s electoral system that drastically reduce democratic representation, while seeking to ensure that “patriots” loyal to Beijing rule the financial hub.

Other lawmakers reacted with a tone of defiance.

“We will not back down to [the CCP’s] intimidation tactics,” Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) said in a statement. “This event should not stop publications like the Epoch Times from speaking out against the CCP’s actions and humanitarian crimes.”

Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) said that if the CCP is found to be behind the attack, it should be held accountable, while Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) said in a statement that the attack is another attempt by the regime to “silence the voices of truth-tellers in Hong Kong.”

“I’m praying for my fellow freedom-lovers living under the CCP’s repressive regime,” Babin added. “May they remain steadfast and courageous in their pursuit of the truth!”

Meanwhile, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) called the incident “extremely concerning.”

“Now more than ever, the United States must stand up for democracy and human rights, and fight against Communist China’s aggression and quest for global dominance,” Scott said in a statement.

Hong Kong

By Frank Fang April 12, 2021 Updated: April 12, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Four intruders barged into the printing plant of the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times in the early hours of April 12, damaging computers and printing equipment in an attack believed to be the latest effort by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to silence the news outlet.

In an attack on the same facility in November 2019, four masked men set fire to two printing presses; the perpetrators are still at large.

Cheryl Ng, a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong edition, said the intrusion was characteristic of the CCP and had the aim of silencing an independent outlet from reporting on topics that are taboo to the communist regime.

Ng, who condemned the attack, said it was a crime against Hong Kong’s freedom of speech.

The Epoch Times, one of the few independent media outlets in Hong Kong, is known for its uncensored coverage of China, including political infighting within the CCP, the regime’s human rights violations against ethnic minorities and religious groups, and Beijing’s propaganda and influence operations abroad.

The Hong Kong edition also has provided extensive independent coverage of the city’s pro-democracy movement, which started in June 2019 but subsided in July 2020 when Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on the China-ruled city. The law has further stripped Hong Kong’s dwindling autonomy, in particular the city’s press freedoms.

In a statement, the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times condemned the CCP for creating “white terror” in Hong Kong, while calling on the international community to monitor Hong Kong’s freedom of speech, which is under siege by the communist regime.

Intrusion

About 4:38 a.m. on April 12, a female employee of the printing press returned to the shop, where she spotted a man in his 30s standing nearby, while chatting on his cellphone.

When the employee tried to close a sliding door, the man suddenly walked up and stood in the doorway, preventing it from being shut.

The man then angrily questioned the female employee, asking her to have ‘Mr. Chu’ come out and meet him. When the employee responded that there was no such person, the man refused to walk away.

Suddenly, three other men arrived and pushed their way into the facility. Two of them carried sledgehammers, and one of them carried a plastic bag with a knife in it.

They shouted at another employee: “Go away. Go away. It is none of your business. Go away. Don’t force me to do anything.”

After barging in, the men started hammering on the printing equipment. Among the items damaged were the printing press’s central control panel and several computers. One of the men also tossed construction debris from his bag onto the equipment.

The intrusion, which was captured on video, lasted about two minutes. When the men left, they stole a computer before fleeing in a white van.

The printing plant staff then called the police, who arrived shortly afterward.

The printing site, established in February 2006, has been attacked four previous times. That month, thugs broke into the building and damaged the newly purchased equipment.

In October 2012, thugs failed to smash open a gate in an attempt to break into the print shop. About two months later, seven men toting toolboxes appeared and began trying to break through the gate; they fled after police were called.

The Nov. 19, 2019, arson attack resulted in damages of more than $40,000. That day, four individuals, who were dressed in black in an apparent attempt to disguise themselves as Hong Kong democracy protesters, lit a fire that activated the warehouse’s sprinkler system.

Several U.S. senators, as well as the rights groups Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong all spoke out against the arson attack.

Ng said that the company’s Hong Kong edition won’t bow to violent threats, and is in the process of repairing the damage. She expressed hope that the Hong Kong police will solve the case and bring the four men to justice.

She urged Hongkongers to continue to support the newspaper.

President Donald Trump arrives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Sept. 24, 2017. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Donald Trump

By Jack Phillips April 11, 2021 Updated: April 11, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Former President Donald Trump, in a speech to GOP donors on Saturday, predicted that the Republican Party would win back the Legislature in 2022 and a Republican would win in 2024.

“We are gathered tonight to talk about the future of the Republican Party—and what we must do to set our candidates on a course to victory,” Trump said in a copy of his prepared remarks, according to numerous news outlets. “I stand before you this evening filled with confidence that in 2022, we are going to take back the House and we are going to reclaim the Senate—and then in 2024, a Republican candidate is going to win the White House.”

Trump made the remarks at a keynote address at a Republican National Committee’s (RNC) donor summit in Florida, according to a draft copy of his speech that was obtained by several news outlets. Trump, in the speech, also told donors that he wants to grow the Republican Party.

The Epoch Times has contacted Trump’s team for comment.

Earlier Saturday, Trump aide and spokesman Jason Miller told Newsmax that the former president would place emphasis on winning back the Senate and House in the midterm elections.

“Obviously I’m biased to who I hope that will be, if President Trump does decide to run again,” Miller told the network. “But I also think you’re going to see President Trump go after Joe Biden again and very strong terms with regard to the border, the woke corporate cancel culture.”

Miller noted that other presidents, such as George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton, did not have much political sway when they respectively left office, unlike Trump.

“He’s stronger than ever,” Miller told Newsmax, adding that in 2024, Trump would be “far and away the favorite on the Republican side of the field.”

Trump’s adviser said that what President Joe Biden “has done to the border is an absolute travesty, not only with the human trafficking, [but] with the drug trafficking, with the fact that we have people who haven’t been tested for COVID that are coming into the country.”

He added that when “Biden got up there on that debate stage for the Democrats and said he wants to give citizenship to 11 million undocumented folks, that’s basically sending out via Western Union a telegram to everyone around the world saying, ‘Hey, come to our border. Don’t worry about if you have a pass to legitimately come in or not, we’re gonna let you, and if you get here, then you get to stay.’”

Last month, Newsmax hired Miller as a paid contributor, and he is a non-exclusive employee, meaning he can speak to other news outlets.

According to reports citing unnamed sources, Trump did not say on Saturday whether he was running for president in 2024.

During his previous speech to CPAC in late February, Trump said that he “might beat them a third time,” referring to Democrats. “I wonder who that will be,” he said to cheers about the possible Republican candidate. “Who, who, who will that be? I wonder.”

Biden, the oldest to take the office in history, said he is planning to run for reelection in 2024.

“The answer is yes, my plan is to run for reelection,” he said last month during his first news conference. “That’s my expectation.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Young unaccompanied migrants that range in age from 3 to 9 sit inside a play pen at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, the main detention centre for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley, in Donna, Texas, on March 30, 2021. (Dario Lopez-Mills/Pool via Reuters) Executive Branch

By Zachary Stieber April 10, 2021 Updated: April 10, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday announced plans to open facilities in Michigan and Pennsylvania as officials struggle to care for the surging number of illegal immigrant minors crossing into the United States from Mexico.

The emergency sites in Albion and Erie will together have a potential capacity of 888 beds. Both are designated for children aged 12 and under who cross the border without a parent or other responsible adult. The children are known as unaccompanied minors.

The number of illegal border crossers soared in March, Biden’s second full month in office, topping 172,000, a jump of over 71,000 from the month prior. The number of unaccompanied minors more than doubled to 18,890.

The figures do not include people who crossed the border and evaded U.S. officials.

Border Patrol has been “overwhelmed” by the surge in illegal immigrants, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told The Epoch Times last month.

“All our good intentions are being overwhelmed by the pure numbers of people coming in,” he added.

Border Patrol is the initial point of contact for border crossers. After a period of time meant to be three days or less in Border Patrol facilities, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) transfers the immigrants to facilities across the country.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of HHS, is opening the new emergency intake sites in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The Albion facility will be at the Starr Commonwealth campus. The Erie facility will be at the Pennsylvania International Academy.

The office has a program that includes over 200 facilities in 22 states but has been forced to open at least 11 new sites to handle the sharp increase in unaccompanied minors, including several at U.S. military bases.

The Trump administration was expelling young immigrants who crossed the border but once Biden took office, he directed all minors to be accepted into the country and quickly united with a sponsor, usually a parent or other family member, already in the country.

Administration officials have described the change as part of an effort to develop a “more humane” immigration system. Stephen Miller, one of former President Donald Trump’s top immigration advisers, has said the policies incentivize parents to send their children on long, dangerous treks to the United States alone.

HHS was caring for nearly 17,000 unaccompanied minors as of April 8. Another 3,881 were in Border Patrol custody.

Republicans and some Democrats have repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for its reversal of key Trump-era policies, arguing the changes have spurred the spike in illegal immigrants crossing the border.

“This is out of control. It’s the middle of the night. We’ve seen dozens of children flow freely across the border in just the past few minutes. This is the reality of Joe Biden’s disastrous amnesty agenda,” House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said in a video from the border on April 9.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal agency, meanwhile, told news outlets that it reached an agreement to pay for 1,200 hotel beds and other necessary services for illegal immigrants in Texas and Arizona.

“Under the contract, shelter is intended to be short-term, and generally less than 72 hours, for immigration enforcement processing including establishing appropriate terms and conditions of release. All families will receive a comprehensive health assessment to include COVID-19 testing,” the agency said.

Some of the hotels are in Chandler and Phoenix, the office of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) said.

Sinema recently spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “and has called on the Department to provide more resources in Arizona to manage the flow of migrants,” the office said in a statement.

“Senator Sinema is continuing to monitor the situation and will hold Secretary Mayorkas and DHS accountable for protecting Arizona communities and ensuring all migrants are treated fairly and humanely,” it added.

Honduran migrants, part of a caravan heading to the United States, walk along a road in Camotan, Guatemala on Jan. 16, 2021. (Johan Ordonez/AFP via Getty Images) Executive Branch

By Samuel Allegri April 10, 2021 Updated: April 10, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

The Biden administration is considering sending cash to Central American countries to alleviate economic problems that motivate their citizens to leave for the United States.

Alongside the conditional cash transfer program, they are also considering sending CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccines to those countries, the White House’s southern border coordinator Roberta Jacobson told Reuters.

She didn’t specify which entity would be potentially obtaining the cash, but the program in consideration is aimed at people from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, which make up for the vast majority of illegal immigration presently occurring at the border.

“We’re looking at all of the productive options to address both the economic reasons people may be migrating, as well as the protection and security reasons,” said the White House official.

CBP released an Operational Update on Thursday which stated that more than 172,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended in March along the Southwest border.

Jacobson didn’t explain to Reuters how exactly the program would function but said that they won’t be handing out checks to people.

“The one thing I can promise you is the U.S. government isn’t going to be handing out money or checks to people,” Jacobson, who announced she will be leaving the White House at the end of the month, said.

On Friday, top Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) disapproved of the idea of cash transfers.

“It’s insulting to the millions of Americans who are out of work or facing despair in our country,” said McCarthy.

An anonymous border patrol agent who claims to have been working in Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) for over ten years spoke out about leaked administration documents obtained by Project Veritas.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents, according to the non-profit journalist group, say that “criminal aliens with sex-related offenses are attempting to re-enter the United States in record numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The anonymous insider said that the documents, labeled “unclassified//law enforcement sensitive,” are not supposed to be shown to the public. One of them dated March 24, 2021, has the header “Border Intelligence Daily” and reads “Public Safety: FY 2021 Sex Offender Encounters by U.S. Border Patrol Reach Five Year High.”

The leaked document reads that there have been 214 sex offender encounters, or arrests, from October 2020 to February 2021, compared to the yearly total of 154 during the previous fiscal year.

The insider said the report is accurate and even “possibly underreported” because sometimes criminal backgrounds go undiscovered.

“I would probably say they’re underreported,” the insider said. “All the records of the criminal aliens and sex offenders that we arrest now, they all have been previously deported from the United States for committing these crimes in the United States.”

The Epoch Times reached out to DHS for comment on the accuracy of the documents.

The New York Times’ masthead is displayed in front of the midtown headquarters in New York City on Dec. 7, 2009. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Media & Big Tech

By Isabel van Brugen April 10, 2021 Updated: April 10, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Several current New York Times staffers were previously employed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled English-language newspaper China Daily, which has in recent years paid U.S. media millions of dollars to publish its state-approved content.

Current employees at the New York Times who formerly worked for the Chinese state-run media outlet include; Jonah Kessel, Director of Cinematography at the Times; Diarmuid McDermott, a current Staff Editor and Designer at the outlet; and Europe culture reporter Alex Marshall, the National Pulse found.

In now-deleted Twitter posts, Kessel, who took on the role of China Daily’s Creative Director from July 2009 to November 2010, wrote that working for the CCP sometimes has its “benefits.” He also mentioned that he was “psyched” for starting the role, which included “redesigning” the propaganda arm of the CCP.

He had disclosed in several posts that he was “working for” and “getting paid” by Chinese state media.

“You know you work for the PRC [The People’s Republic of China] when the first word that comes to your mind when asked to describe your work place is ‘harmonious’ #china,” Kessel wrote in a Twitter post in November 2009.

According to McDermott’s LinkedIn profile and personal website, he worked as editor and designer for China Daily in a Hong Kong-based role for eight years—from November 2012 to November last year. He assumed the same role at the NY Times last year, and is still based in Hong Kong.

He revamped China Daily’s “Asia Weekly” publication, which, according to his profile, involved “Copy editing; Rewriting raw copy; Designing layout and graphics; Sourcing news stories and pictures; Developing and maintaining a web presence across multiple platforms; Outputting pages for printers across the region.”

Marshall was reportedly employed by China Daily as an editor between 2003 and 2004.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the NY Times for comment.

For years, the NY Times has sought expanded access to the Chinese market and accepted millions in advertising revenue from Chinese state-owned media entities.

Records from the U.S. Department of Justice last year show that China Daily paid nearly 19 million dollars to U.S. media companies for advertising and printing expenses over the past four years.

Paid supplements with a pro-Beijing agenda produced by the outlet were published in newspapers such as The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

The CCP-controlled outlet also paid the NY Times $50,000 for advertising, the Justice Department records show.

Young unaccompanied migrants that range in age from 3 to 9 sit inside a play pen at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, the main detention centre for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley, in Donna, Texas, on March 30, 2021. (Dario Lopez-Mills/Pool via Reuters) Executive Branch

By Zachary Stieber April 10, 2021 Updated: April 10, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday announced plans to open facilities in Michigan and Pennsylvania as officials struggle to care for the surging number of illegal immigrant minors crossing into the United States from Mexico.

The emergency sites in Albion and Erie will together have a potential capacity of 888 beds. Both are designated for children aged 12 and under who cross the border without a parent or other responsible adult. The children are known as unaccompanied minors.

The number of illegal border crossers soared in March, Biden’s second full month in office, topping 172,000, a jump of over 71,000 from the month prior. The number of unaccompanied minors more than doubled to 18,890.

The figures do not include people who crossed the border and evaded U.S. officials.

Border Patrol has been “overwhelmed” by the surge in illegal immigrants, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told The Epoch Times last month.

“All our good intentions are being overwhelmed by the pure numbers of people coming in,” he added.

Border Patrol is the initial point of contact for border crossers. After a period of time meant to be three days or less in Border Patrol facilities, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) transfers the immigrants to facilities across the country.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of HHS, is opening the new emergency intake sites in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The Albion facility will be at the Starr Commonwealth campus. The Erie facility will be at the Pennsylvania International Academy.

The office has a program that includes over 200 facilities in 22 states but has been forced to open at least 11 new sites to handle the sharp increase in unaccompanied minors, including several at U.S. military bases.

The Trump administration was expelling young immigrants who crossed the border but once Biden took office, he directed all minors to be accepted into the country and quickly united with a sponsor, usually a parent or other family member, already in the country.

Administration officials have described the change as part of an effort to develop a “more humane” immigration system. Stephen Miller, one of former President Donald Trump’s top immigration advisers, has said the policies incentivize parents to send their children on long, dangerous treks to the United States alone.

HHS was caring for nearly 17,000 unaccompanied minors as of April 8. Another 3,881 were in Border Patrol custody.

Republicans and some Democrats have repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for its reversal of key Trump-era policies, arguing the changes have spurred the spike in illegal immigrants crossing the border.

“This is out of control. It’s the middle of the night. We’ve seen dozens of children flow freely across the border in just the past few minutes. This is the reality of Joe Biden’s disastrous amnesty agenda,” House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said in a video from the border on April 9.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal agency, meanwhile, told news outlets that it reached an agreement to pay for 1,200 hotel beds and other necessary services for illegal immigrants in Texas and Arizona.

“Under the contract, shelter is intended to be short-term, and generally less than 72 hours, for immigration enforcement processing including establishing appropriate terms and conditions of release. All families will receive a comprehensive health assessment to include COVID-19 testing,” the agency said.

Some of the hotels are in Chandler and Phoenix, the office of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) said.

Sinema recently spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “and has called on the Department to provide more resources in Arizona to manage the flow of migrants,” the office said in a statement.

“Senator Sinema is continuing to monitor the situation and will hold Secretary Mayorkas and DHS accountable for protecting Arizona communities and ensuring all migrants are treated fairly and humanely,” it added.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo speaks as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki looks on during a daily press briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House April 7, 2021 in Washington. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) China-US News

By Reuters April 8, 2021 Updated: April 8, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

The U.S. Commerce Department said April 8 it was adding seven Chinese supercomputing entities to a U.S. economic blacklist for assisting Chinese military efforts.

The department is adding Tianjin Phytium Information Technology, Shanghai High-Performance Integrated Circuit Design Center, Sunway Microelectronics, the National Supercomputing Center Jinan, the National Supercomputing Center Shenzhen, the National Supercomputing Center Wuxi, and the National Supercomputing Center Zhengzhou to its blacklist.

The Commerce Department said the seven were “involved with building supercomputers used by China’s military actors, its destabilizing military modernization efforts, and/or weapons of mass destruction programs.”

This is the first time the Biden administration has taken action to penalize Chinese companies on national security grounds.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Supercomputing capabilities are vital for the development of many – perhaps almost all – modern weapons and national security systems, such as nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

Companies or others listed on the U.S. Entity List are required to apply for licenses from the Commerce Department that face tough scrutiny when they seek permission to receive items from U.S. suppliers.

The new rules take effect immediately but do not apply to goods from U.S. suppliers already en route.

During the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, the United States added dozens of Chinese companies to its economic blacklist, including the country’s top smartphone maker Huawei Technologies, top chipmaker SMIC and the largest drone manufacturer, SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd.  Those companies were sanctioned for a range of reasons including their role in aiding the Chinese military, and supporting the Chinese regime’s repression against ethnic Musim minorities in the region of Xinjiang.

The Biden administration is still formulating its China policy, and has broadly indicated it would continue the Trump administration’s tough-on-China posture. President Joe Biden has repeatedly said the United States is in “extreme competition” with the Chinese regime.

By David Shepardson. Cathy He contributed to this report.

The apps of Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple on Aug. 28, 2019. (Denis Charlet/AFP/Getty Images) Media & Big Tech

By Samuel Allegri April 7, 2021 Updated: April 7, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said on April 7 that he will be scrutinizing five big tech companies that might have potentially caused harm to Indiana consumers through “abusive, deceptive and/or unfair” practices.

The five companies to be scrutinized by Rokita are Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

The attorney general is particularly looking into procedures that allegedly restrict consumers’ access to specific content, referring to the deletion or obscuring of conservative posts.

“In a free society, few assets are more important to consumers than access to information and the opportunity to express political viewpoints in meaningful forums,” Rokita said. “It is potentially harmful and unfair for these companies to manipulate content in ways they do not publicly discuss or that consumers do not fully understand.”

The attorney general is also probing into allegations that attorney Vanita Gupta took actions that encouraged censorship of conservative voices by the relevant companies.

Gupta is President Joe Biden’s nominee for associate U.S. attorney general. She was questioned in March by Republicans over her partisan record.

“Her Twitter feed has painted Republicans with a broad brush, describing our national convention last year as three nights of ‘racism, xenophobia, and outrageous lies,’” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said.

Rokita has previously been critical of censorship on social media. In February, he posted a Valentine’s Day card with President Trump’s image with the words “You stole my heart like a 2020 election.” Twitter initially reacted by blocking the ability for the post to be retweeted or receive replies, as well as adding a tag on the post saying that false information could cause violence.

Texas Senate Passes Social Media Bill

The Texas Senate passed a bill that forbids social media companies that have at least 100 million users per month to block, ban, demonetize, or discriminate against any of their users due to their political views.

Senate Bill 12, which was sponsored by Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes, passed on April 1 and would apply to Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms.

“I think we all have to acknowledge, these social media companies are the new town square,” Hughes said.

“And a small group of people in San Francisco can’t dictate free speech for the rest of us. It needs to be an open exchange of ideas, and Senate Bill 12 is going to get Texans back online.” https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=EpochTimes&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfX0%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1377534968159698946&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ffive-big-tech-companies-to-be-investigated-for-censorship-of-conservative-content-indiana-ag_3766366.html&sessionId=dccdfb15b871ee859a34d57746dc068ffa157e41&siteScreenName=EpochTimes&theme=light&widgetsVersion=1ead0c7%3A1617660954974&width=550px

He said the bill is on its way to the state House and that it’s expected to get a good consideration, adding that he hopes that the governor will sign it into law soon.

The measure would require companies to make their moderation policies known, publish reports about the content blocked out by the platform, and create an appeals process for the removed content.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo speaks during a daily press briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 7, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Executive Branch

By Ivan Pentchoukov April 7, 2021 Updated: April 7, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo told reporters at the White House on April 7 that the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum saved American jobs.

“With respect to tariffs, there is a place for tariffs. The 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum have in fact helped save American jobs in the steel and aluminum industries,” Raimondo said, marking a rare point of agreement with the policies of the prior administration.

“So what do we do with tariffs? We have to level the playing field. No one can out-compete the American worker if the playing field is level,” Raimondo continued. “And the fact is, China’s actions are uncompetitive, coercive, underhanded. They’ve proven they’ll do whatever it takes. And so I plan to use all the tools in my toolbox as aggressively as possible to protect American workers and businesses from unfair Chinese practices.”

President Donald Trump in March 2018 imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports. Some countries were temporarily exempted from the tariffs. Currently, South Korea, Argentina, Australia, and Brazil are permanently exempted. The tariffs on Canada and Mexico were lifted with the signing of the U.S. Mexico and Canada Agreement.

During the same month in 2018, Trump fired the first salvo in the trade war with China, imposing tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responded with retaliatory tariffs and the tit for tat has escalated since. Trump had reasoned that the tariffs were necessary to force the CCP to abandon unfair trade practices and pay a price for years of rampant intellectual property theft from the United States.

Trump had also targeted private Chinese companies over concerns national security concerns, including the potential that troves of data on Americans were relayed to the communist regime in Beijing.

Raimondo made the remarks in response to a reporter who had also prompted her to clarify the Biden administration’s stance on TikTok, a social media app that Trump threatened to ban unless the Chinese company that owns it sells its American business to a U.S. company.

“So I would say, here’s my broad view, and I don’t want to get into details on any particular company,” Raimondo said. “My broad view is what we do on offense is more important than we do on defense. To compete in the long run with China, we need to rebuild America in all of the ways we’re talking about today, and by the way, do that with our allies. We have to work with our allies and find common ground where we can.”