Here we go again
Today, at noon Eastern, a trio of tech execs will be grilled by a House committee about how disinformation spreads on their platforms. It’s the first time the chiefs of Google, Facebook and Twitter will appear virtually before Congress during the Biden administration. It’s also the first chance for lawmakers to question the tech bosses since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and the role their companies played in the event is sure to be a point of discussion.
The C.E.O.s know the drill by now. A series of hearings in recent years have given the executives experience in absorbing attacks and sticking to their talking points. Since 2018, Google’s Sundar Pichai has testified three times, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey four times and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg six times. Their prepared testimonies hint at what is to come today, if they stick to their scripts.
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A hot topic will be Section 230, the law that shields platforms from liability for user-generated content. (Here is a handy explainer about it.) Before the hearing, researchers from Harvard and N.Y.U. presented recommendations to Congress and the White House on regulating disinformation online, including “carve-outs” to Section 230.
Facebook has long adopted the stance that it welcomes more rules. Today, according to his prepared opening remarks, Mr. Zuckerberg will say that companies should earn their right to claim protection from liability by showing that they have strong systems to monitor content.
Mr. Pichai will warn that a Section 230 overhaul, or a wholesale repeal, would harm free expression on the internet.
Mr. Dorsey will not mention the controversial liability shield, based on his prepared remarks, though he is highly likely to face questions about it.
Misinformation is a life-or-death issue, according to a letter from 12 attorneys general that was sent to Twitter and Facebook yesterday, seeking help to stop the spread of vaccine misinformation. “Unfortunately,” they wrote, “misinformation disseminated via your platforms has increased vaccine hesitancy, which will slow economic recovery and, more importantly, ultimately cause even more unnecessary deaths.”
The New York Times