Google CEO Sundar Pichai plans to tell lawmakers that political bias doesn’t play a role on his company’s platforms.
Pichai is expected to face tough questions from both Republicans and Democrats during Tuesday’s hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.
It is the first time he will testify at the Capitol.
According to his prepared testimony posted by the panel Monday afternoon, he is also going to say the company values privacy and is also “proud” to work with the federal government.
“I lead this company without political bias and work to ensure that our products continue to operate that way,” Pichai will say, addressing accusations from President Trump and congressional Republicans that Google has an anti-conservative bias.
Pichai will also address privacy concerns, saying: “Protecting the privacy and security of our users has long been an essential part of our mission. We have invested an enormous amount of work over the years to bring choice, transparency, and control to our users.”
“I am proud to say we do work, and we will continue to work, with the government to keep our country safe and secure,” Pichai will say.
Pichai is likely to face the same anger that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced when he testified in April.
“Americans put their trust in big tech companies to honor freedom of speech and champion open dialogue, and it is Congress’ responsibility to the American people to make sure these tech giants are transparent and accountable in their practices,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., in a statement announcing Tuesday’s hearing.
Pichai will also likely field questions about the company’s Google Plus social network.
On Monday, Google announced the consumer version of the social network will shut down in April, rather than August, due to a new vulnerability that affected 52.5 million users. The bug was first discovered in March, but not publicly disclosed until October.
In addition, 16 House members sent a letter to Pichai in September demanding more information about Google’s potential new investments in China — a top concern of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. A handful of senators have also voiced concern about expansion into China.
When asked for comment at the time, a Google spokeswoman repeated a prior statement about the reported project.
“We’ve been investing for many years to help Chinese users, from developing Android, through mobile apps such as Google Translate and Files Go, and our developer tools,” the statement reads. “But our work on search has been exploratory, and we are not close to launching a search product in China.”
Also in September, Google declined to make any top executives available for a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on social media, which led to the hearing featuring an empty chair in Google’s place.
“I’m incredibly proud of what Google does to empower people around the world, especially here in the U.S.,” Pichai will say Tuesday.
