LIVE: Facebook, Google and Twitter CEOs Face Senate Grilling Over Bias

(Oct. 28) The CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google are facing a grilling by Republican senators making unfounded allegations that the tech giants show anti-conservative bias.

The Senate Commerce Committee has summoned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai to testify for a hearing Wednesday. The executives agreed to appear remotely after being threatened with subpoenas.

With the presidential election looming, Republicans led by President Donald Trump have thrown a barrage of grievances at Big Tech’s social media platforms, which they accuse without evidence of deliberately suppressing conservative, religious and anti-abortion views.

The chorus of protest rose this month after Facebook and Twitter acted to limit dissemination of an unverified political story from the conservative-leaning New York Post about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, an unprecedented action against a major media outlet. The story, which was not confirmed by other publications, cited unverified emails from Biden’s son Hunter that were reportedly disclosed by Trump allies.

Beyond questioning the CEOs, senators are expected to examine proposals to revise long-held legal protections for online speech, an immunity that critics in both parties say enables the companies to abdicate their responsibility to impartially moderate content.

The Justice Department has asked Congress to strip some of the bedrock protections that have generally shielded the tech companies from legal responsibility for what people post on their platforms. Trump signed an executive order challenging the protections from lawsuits under the 1996 telecommunications law.

“For too long, social media platforms have hidden behind Section 230 protections to censor content that deviates from their beliefs,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the Commerce Committee chairman, said recently.

In their opening statements prepared for the hearing, Dorsey, Zuckerberg and Pichai addressed the proposals for changes to so-called Section 230, a provision of a 1996 law that has served as the foundation for unfettered speech on the internet. Zuckerberg said Congress “should update the law to make sure it’s working as intended.”

“We don’t think tech companies should be making so many decisions about these important issues alone,” he said, approving an active role for government regulators.

Dorsey and Pichai, however, urged caution in making any changes. “Undermining Section 230 will result in far more removal of online speech and impose severe limitations on our collective ability to address harmful content and protect people online,” Dorsey said.

Pichai urged lawmakers “to be very thoughtful about any changes to Section 230 and to be very aware of the consequences those changes might have on businesses and consumers.”

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd told congressional leaders in a letter Tuesday that recent events have made the changes more urgent. He cited the action by Twitter and Facebook regarding the New York Post story, calling the companies’ limitations “quite concerning.”

The head of the Federal Communications Commission, an independent agency, recently announced plans to reexamine the legal protections, potentially putting meat on the bones of Trump’s order by opening the way to new rules. The move by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a Trump appointee, marked an about-face from the agency’s previous position.

Social media giants are also under heavy scrutiny for their efforts to police misinformation about the election. Twitter and Facebook have slapped a misinformation label on content from the president, who has around 80 million followers. Trump has raised the baseless prospect of mass fraud in the vote-by-mail process.

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[jeffbguarino]

Since the freedom of information laws don't work from a practical standpoint. These companies have to be shut down. Some other platforms must arise that don't have the same structural inadequacies.

[thedisconnect]

But why did you suspend Trumps tweet ability when he had 0 violations then let Biden stay on the platform Jack? Explain please because it sure looks EXTREMELY biased.

[alyon]

I dropped them all. Never again. They did it to me 2 1/2 years ago. They need boycotted.

[thomasstillman]

We all know the truth!
Stop insulting our intelligence!

[VictorMawhinney]

Time to break them up .if they are going to HIDE BEHIND 230

[jeffbguarino]

Work them like Craigslist. let the viewers decide the content.

[crisscross]

The excessive blinking when lying is a hilariously bad and common tell

[brynotar]

The Zuckerbot must finally be running the 1.11.3 version of the human software. He actually showed the right emotions at appropriate times.

[SP-LW...]

Unless they enforce rules on them this is not enough

[wangyuan]

"do no evil", a different time..

[marcosabait]

If you want to put the socials in line, I suggest this initiative: since
they now dictate a real editorial line, those who write about it and
are forced to adapt become in fact a "collaborating journalist" of the
social but unpaid, since the social acts as "chief editor". Therefore, I
suggest a class action to see themselves recognized as unpaid
journalists and to get recognized the union monetary emolument
corresponding to their role. What do you think? Try listening to some
lawyer with sharp teeth...

[joebaird]

I like the 2 extra minutes. Always thought the 5 min rule was prime for an SNL skit. " Furthermore Mr Baddman you agreed to share the password to deactivate the horribly bad incident set to happen in 60 seconds..!!!! ". BANG BANG the gavel..!! " Your time has expired senator...!! Next we hear

[rysabh]

It is quite funny how these companies host large video conferencing platforms but the quality of this live stream was so "sarkaari".

[impulsivereply]

This didn’t get much y’all on rogan he kept fact checking Alex Jones during the debate post debate nbc was very open about there opinions on trump called him a liar and Biden was praised

[hjbutlerrb]

Not surprised eventually all the services Shit will come back Bite you