Republicans on Wednesday warned the heads of Facebook, Twitter, and Google they could lose federal lawsuit liability protections following apparent censorship of conservative content on their social media platforms.
The online hearing, however, was slowed down by a Big Tech glitch: Twitter CEO Mark Zuckerberg was unable to connect to the hearing, forcing a recess.
The hearing initially began with Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker citing Twitter’s and Facebook’s decision to block a story by the New York Post about potentially incriminating contents of three laptops believed to have been owned by Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
“These recent incidents are only the latest trail of censorship and suppression of conservative voices on the internet,” the Mississippi Republican said. “Reasonable observers are left to wonder whether Big Tech firms are obstructing the flow of information to benefit one political ideology. My concern is that these platforms have become powerful arbiters of what is true and what content users can access the American public gets a little insight into the decision making process content is ideal.”
Wicker and other lawmakers want changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to reduce or alter liability protections.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who, along with the other witnesses and lawmakers testified by video, warned eliminating social media’s lawsuit liability protections “will remove free speech from the internet.”
Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified that the internet “has been a powerful force of good,” that Google’s services are only possible “because of existing legal frameworks like Section 230.”
Pichai said and that Google is “deeply committed to freedom of expression” and warned the committee to be “very aware” on what the changes to the law may mean to businesses and customers.
“We recognize people come to our services with [a] broad spectrum of perspective, we approach our work without political bias, full stop,” Pichai testified.
Zuckerberg, who was able to quickly resolve the glitch preventing his testimony, delivered an opening statement to lawmakers arguing the government should play a larger role in governing speech on social media platforms.
“There are real disagreements about where the limits of online speech should be,” Zuckerberg said. “When a private company is making these calls, we need a more accountable process that people feel is legitimate.”
Zuckerberg called on lawmakers to take action.
“I believe Congress has a role to play in order to give people confidence that the process is carried out in a way that balances society’s deeply held values appropriately,” Zuckerberg said.
Zuckerberg called for updating Section 230 with changes, including provisions to “separate good actors from bad actors by making sure that companies can’t hide behind Section 230 to avoid responsibility for intentionally facilitating illegal activity on their platforms.”
Zuckerberg said Facebook is willing to work with Congress on changes to the law.
“There are consequential choices to be made here,” Zuckerberg said. “And it’s important that we don’t prevent the next generation of ideas form being built.”
