WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Beth Van Duyne (TX-24) today sent a letter to President Joe Biden expressing concerns over reports that the President is considering appointing Ms. Renata Hesse, a former lawyer for Google and Amazon, to oversee the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division.

“It is important, now more than ever, that the individual at the helm of the DOJ’s antitrust division be diligent in pursuit of protecting free speech, enforcing antitrust laws to address the ballooning influence of Big Tech, and neutrally addressing the anti-competitive practices that have led Big Tech companies, like Google, Apple, Amazon, Twitter, and Facebook, to amass the influence they now hold over society,” Van Duyne wrote. “Unfortunately, I do not believe that person to be Ms. Hesse.”

Van Duyne also called out Big Tech companies for trampling over free speech in an effort to censor conservative voices and urged the President and his administration to address Big Tech companies’ expanded market dominance in the wake of increased censorship.

“In recent weeks, we have seen this market power expanded by companies like Apple and Twitter to take increasingly troubling actions in contravention of the spirit of the First Amendment,” the letter continued. “Apple’s decision to remove the social media site Parler from its App Store, citing alleged ‘incitement of violence,’ is laughably hypocritical in the face of Apple’s decisions to simultaneously maintain YouTube’s and Twitter’s apps for download, sites where users have engaged in hate speech and speech inciting lawlessness for years. Further, Twitter’s decision to ban the former President of the United States while he was still serving in the Oval Office not only runs counter to the spirit of freedom and democracy our nation has long boasted, but also sets a terrifying precedent that Big Tech companies may control what news the American public consumes – including moderating content from the leader of the free world.”

To read the full letter, click here.