Attorney General Jeff Sessions has scheduled a meeting with state attorneys general to discuss a “growing concern” that social media and tech companies may be “intentionally stifling” the free flow of ideas on their platforms.
A statement issued through spokesman Devin O’Malley said the Justice Department monitored a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg on the use of social media by foreign adversaries to spread misinformation.
[Also read: Trump to social media services: ‘Let everybody participate, good & bad’]
“The attorney general has convened a meeting with a number of state attorneys general this month to discuss a growing concern that these companies may be hurting competition and intentionally stifling the free exchange of ideas on their platforms,” said the statement. An official confirmed that the statement means a meeting has been scheduled for some time in September.
The Justice Department announcement comes amid accusations by President Trump and some of his Republican allies in Congress that social media giants Facebook, Twitter and Google censor conservative content.
Trump has also suggested that larger tech companies have antitrust issues. He tweeted that Google’s search results are “rigged” against him and right-wing media organizations, and suggested in an interview that Google, Facebook and Twitter represent a “very antitrust situation.”
Facebook and Twitter have both repeatedly denied political bias, and Google said in response to Trump that it doesn’t “bias our results toward any political ideology.”
The announcement also comes amid renewed tensions between Trump and Sessions. Trump’s anger toward Sessions is the result of his decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian election interference, paving the way for the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump also blasted Sessions as recently as this week for indicting two Republican congressman who are outward supporters of the president.
