By Ryan Tracy and John D. McKinnon
WASHINGTON -- Chief executives of the largest social media
companies will testify Wednesday before the Senate Commerce
Committee in a hearing examining their platforms' role in shaping
political discourse.
Less than a week before Election Day, members of the
Republican-led panel are expected to question Facebook Inc. CEO
Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter Inc. CEO Jack Dorsey, and Sundar Pichai,
CEO of Google and YouTube owner Alphabet Inc., about their
treatment of politically charged content, from advertising to news
to candidates' posts.
The high-profile stage reflects bipartisan concern about the
companies' increasingly central role in public debate and the
distribution of news, although Republicans and Democrats are coming
at the issue from different perspectives.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R., Miss.), the panel's chairman, has accused
the companies of censoring conservative views -- a charge the
executives dispute. The hearing will focus on what he calls the
"unintended consequences" of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications
Decency Act, a law that gives online companies broad immunity from
legal liability for user-generated content and wide latitude to
control what does or doesn't appear on their platforms.
In testimony submitted to the Senate panel and viewed by The
Wall Street Journal, Mr. Zuckerberg said he supported changing
Section 230, noting that "the debate about Section 230 shows that
people of all political persuasions are unhappy with the status
quo."
"I believe Congress should update the law to make sure it's
working as intended," Mr. Zuckerberg is expected to say. "We
support the ideas around transparency and industry collaboration
that are being discussed in some of the current bipartisan
proposals."
Mr. Wicker, in his opening statement, will say the liability
shield has protected companies from "potentially ruinous lawsuits.
But it has also given these internet platforms the ability to
control, stifle, and even censor content in whatever manner meets
their respective 'standards.' The time has come for that free pass
to end."
Democrats questioned Mr. Wicker's push to hold the hearing
before next Tuesday's election but didn't object to calling the
CEOs to testify. They are likely to ask about other topics, such as
the spread of false information on social media and platforms'
efforts to contain it.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.), the top Democrat on the panel,
is expected to ask the CEOs about a report her office issued on
Tuesday arguing the companies are endangering local news
organizations.
Republicans are likely to focus on Twitter's blocking and
Facebook's limiting of recent New York Post articles that made
allegations about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, which
his campaign has denied.
The Post said the articles were based on email exchanges with
Hunter Biden, the Democratic candidate's son, provided by allies of
President Trump.
The Justice Department weighed in Tuesday, writing to the Senate
panel that the episodes show the need for Congress to pare back
Section 230 immunity.
Twitter blocked users from posting links to the articles,
initially citing a potential violation of its rules regarding
hacked materials. The company later said the articles violated its
policies on displaying private information like email addresses and
phone numbers without a person's permission. Mr. Dorsey said the
company's failure to give context around its actions was
"unacceptable."
Twitter's move came after Facebook also limited the distribution
of the articles on its platform, saying it was awaiting guidance
from its third-party fact-checking partners -- independent
organizations that routinely review the accuracy of viral content.
Facebook slowed the spread of the Post articles pending a decision
by those partners. Facebook says such restrictions expire after a
week if no fact-check is produced, which is what happened in the
case of the Post's story.
A company spokesman said the action was in keeping with rules
Facebook announced last year to prevent election interference.
Facebook said in a blog post last October it would temporarily
reduce distribution of certain content until the facts were better
established to stem misinformation.
In testimony submitted to the Senate panel and viewed by the
Journal, Messrs. Zuckerberg and Dorsey said they strive to balance
users' right to free expression with the need to protect public
safety. They argued Section 230 gives them the tools to strike that
balance, though they appeared to signal openness to moderate
changes.
Mr. Dorsey also said more transparency around company practices
should be required, a change that the Trump administration also has
advocated. "I believe the best way to address our mutually-held
concerns is to require the publication of moderation processes and
practices, a straightforward process to appeal decisions, and best
efforts around algorithmic choice," he said in prepared
testimony.
Mr. Pichai didn't close the door to change but warned against
unintended consequences. "As you think about how to shape policy in
this important area, I would urge the Committee 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," he said.
Some see Google's YouTube unit as a significant source of
election-related misinformation, and many conservatives contend
that Google's ubiquitous search function is often biased against
their points of view.
Some on the right also have criticized YouTube's content
moderation practices as well.
Mr. Pichai pushed back on those accusations. "We approach our
work without political bias, full stop. To do otherwise would be
contrary to both our business interests and our mission," he
said.
Jeff Horwitz contributed to this article.
Write to Ryan Tracy at ryan.tracy@wsj.com and John D. McKinnon
at john.mckinnon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 28, 2020 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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