Rowan News

The North Carolina Republican Party claimed that the state's Democratic governor is shutting out some reporters from his press conferences by using a reportedly left-leaning company that provides video meetings. 

"Gov. [Roy] Cooper's selection of a partisan firm to host official press conferences to limit questions from certain reporters is an assault on the First Amendment," state Republican Party Press Secretary Tim Wigginton said in a June 18 statement. 

The party's accusation centered on a North Star Journal report on June 17 that questioned why its journalists were not given chances to ask questions during Cooper's briefings despite having those opportunities at the start of the COVID-19 crisis since the administration began using the company MaestroConference's video services. 

“Cooper seems only to think First Amendment protections only apply to people he supports," Wigginton said in the GOP release. "He marches with the protesters outside the gates of his mansion, but arrests socially distance pro-life activists calling for an end to abortion on demand.” 

North Star reported that its findings show the company is left-leaning and has provided its services to Democratic initiatives and causes, including President Barack Obama's presidential campaign. 

The Republican Party also claimed that MaestroConference is a "security risk" based on an April 9 report in Politico. The article looked at Zoom and to some extent MaestroConference that provide video conferencing capabilities and the potential security flaws they might have when being used by the federal government. 

Zoom and its competitor MaestroConference received "a high-risk notice" because of concerns about the "potential compromise of systems and loss of data, interruptions during a conference, and lack of privacy," the U.S. Senate sergeant at arms said in April, Politico reported. The sergeant at arms ultimately recommended that until changes are made in those services, federal lawmakers continue using approved-video conferencing services. The publication did report that Zoom is in talks with federal officials to resolve any concerns.