Rep. Tom Tiffany on Thursday said he hopes the House Oversight Committee will conduct hearings on AT&T DirecTV's deplatforming of Newsmax, but said "there's so many things that we need to deal with on the oversight front."
"Can we get to all of them in two years? I do hope that this is something that we get at because it's clearly of a piece with the censorship that is going on," the Wisconsin Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
Such censorship, Tiffany said, is happening with the FBI and social media companies, and "we're seeing it with the FTC now, with them trying to stifle reporters and trying to out reporters, trying to make sure that they're not being heard."
DirecTV customers demand Newsmax is returned! Oppose censorship – sign The Petition – Click Here
At the same time, Tiffany said, "we need to make sure that we're hearing all the stories out there, including the story with your network about how they're trying ot be forced out of the marketplace of the media."
DirecTV cut Newsmax's signal on Jan. 24, blocking the network from more than 13 million subscribers of the satellite service, DirecTV Stream, and U-Verse.
Newsmax is America's fourth highest-rated news network in the cable landscape and a top-20 overall channel that reaches 25 million Americans weekly, according to the Nielsen ratings.
As justification for its deplatforming of Newsmax, DirecTV has claimed the network was demanding "excessive fees" that would amount to "tens of millions" of dollars. Newsmax has denied that, saying it is seeking an approximate fee of $1 per cable subscriber per year, which is among the lowest requested fees in cable television.
Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy has noted that DirecTV has paid fees to 22 liberal news outlets without paying anything to Newsmax.
Actions to Take Now
1. DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to complain, demand Newsmax is back on air!
2. Call your congressman or senator at 202-224-3121 and demand they stop AT&T/DirecTV's censorship of NEWSMAX — ask them to give you a date on the hearings!
3. Go to our online petition and get more info: iWantNewsmax.com.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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