Three House Democrats sent a letter to Twitter CEO Elon Musk requesting answers to questions focused on the reported suppression of content displaying recent protests in China.

Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Adam Schiff, and Jackie Speier signed the letter expressing "deep concern" about recent "malicious" activities in China and asked Musk if he knew of the Chinese government's involvement.

China's been in the midst of its largest protests in decades, as citizens revolt against the country's ongoing "zero-Covid" policy. The policy is aimed at keeping the number of Covid-19 cases as close to zero as possible, but also has strict enforcement clauses that have stifled the economy and left entire neighborhoods isolated.

The protests began in November, after a fire that erupted in the city of Urumqi killed ten people and left nine injured. Protestors believe lives could have been saved if China's strict policies had not slowed firefighters down.

The Democratic lawmakers believe the Chinese Communist Party has censored videos of the government cracking down on the protests, including scenes depicting officials beating and dragging protestors away.

Lawmakers claim the Chinese government utilized bots and other Chinese-language accounts to flood Twitter with various links and misinformation to suppress news about the protests.

The United States has an interest in knowing whether recent developments at Twitter have affected Chinese foreign influence operations on social media, and the extent to which China potentially manipulated the platform, said the letter.

Musk has been adamant in his support of free speech since his acquisition of Twitter, but government manipulation of the platform complicates the extent the CEO may be willing to go to adhere to this agenda.

China has reportedly moved toward easing its "zero-Covid" policy, folding under the weight of the protests that have rocked the country for weeks. Before the policy is completely removed, Musk will still have to answer the questions posed by the House members.

The members asked Musk four specific questions about China's use of Twitter in this situation, including whether Twitter has any indication that the obstruction of tweets on the protests was state-led and whether Twitter has the capacity to identify large-scale misinformation, disinformation, and information suppression.

The group has requested Musk submit answers to them by Dec. 31.

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