New York Times columnist David Brooks blasted attempts from the political Left to censor speech, saying that it was a “problem for democracy.”

Brooks made the remarks during a segment on Friday during “PBS NewsHour” when asked about a federal judge ruling this week that the Biden administration cannot communicate with social media companies about removing posts that contain misinformation.

“I do think we need — obviously, they need to pull stuff down,” he said. “There are 40,000 people at Google and Meta pulling stuff down. They’ve pulled over a billion things down. I don’t really trust Big Tech to be in charge of this, and I don’t, frankly, trust government in cahoots with Big Tech in private to be in charge of this.”

“There is a law in the Senate — or a bill in the Senate that would make the process more transparent, so outside sources can see if they’re being honest and fair in what they pull down,” he continued. “And that seems, to me, the best way forward. But it is a problem for democracy to have elites in Washington and elites in Silicon Valley making decisions about what’s out there. And so, that’s just something we just have to wrestle with.”

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The judge in the case did allow for some exceptions for Biden officials to have contact with social media companies, including informing them of posts involving “criminal activity or criminal conspiracies,” “national security threats, extortion, or other threats,” and crimes related to U.S. elections.

The lawsuit, filed by Missouri and Louisiana, accused the Biden administration of pushing social media companies to censor content related to the coronavirus pandemic. The states said in the lawsuit that the Biden administration’s actions were “the most egregious violations of the First Amendment in the history of the United States of America.”

The FBI has reportedly launched an investigation into Rob Malley, President Joe Biden’s special envoy to Iran, over his handling of classified material.

News broke last month that Malley, who has been widely criticized for being soft on Iran, was suspended after the State Department launched an investigation over “possible mishandling of classified information.”

Semafor reported Friday that the matter has now turned into an FBI investigation, according to a source in the State Department.

The report noted that the escalation in the investigation “suggests that investigators are considering something beyond the lowest-level mishandling of documents.”

CNN reported last month that his security clearance was pulled earlier this year and that he was placed “on leave without pay.”

“I have been informed that my security clearance is under review,” he said. “I have not been provided any further information, but I expect the investigation to be resolved favorably and soon. In the meantime, I am on leave.”

A senior U.S. official told Semafor that for a political appointee to have their security clearance revoked, federal law enforcement would have to have an open investigation, meaning the investigation has likely been going on for a while.

Malley, whose anti-Israel, pro-Iranian perspective has colored his career, came under fire late last year over his tepid response as Iranian protesters target the despotic, theocratic Iranian government.

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Malley’s avoidance of condemning the Iranian regime’s violent oppression of the Iranian people was in line with his prior history, and he was not alone in the Biden administration in his unwillingness to acknowledge the Iranian people’s fervent desire to rid themselves of their tyrannical government.

“Marchers in Washington and cities around the world are showing their support for the Iranian people, who continue to peacefully demonstrate for their government to respect their dignity and human rights,” Malley tweeted last year as protests raged in Iran. He later apologized for the tweet.

Bryan Leib, former executive director of Iranian Americans for Liberty, said, “Robert Malley will go down in the history books as the most ineffective and feckless State Department official of the last 50 years. It’s time for him to go. His most recent gaffe on Twitter is just another example of how he has aligned the United States government with the Islamic Republic and not with liberty-seeking Iranian people. His fake apology is not accepted and he should be terminated immediately.”

Richard Goldberg, senior adviser to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said bluntly, “So long as Malley is special envoy, you know the administration’s policy remains offering sanctions relief to the regime in Tehran. If he leaves, it’ll be the first signal of a policy shift away from accommodating the regime and toward helping the Iranian people.”

Hank Berrien contributed to this report.