The bosses of Facebook, Google and Twitter will be forced to appear in front of US senators to answer questions about how they police their services, after initially rejecting requests to appear in Washington.
The Senate’s Commerce committee voted unanimously to subpoena Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey for questioning, in a hearing that may take place before next month’s election. The three chief executives will be told to appear for a hearing about US laws that protect social networks and other online platforms from being sued for moderating material posted by their users.
The “Section 230” protections, a key shield that social media sites have relied on for 24 years, are under increasing scrutiny in Washington. Tech companies have come under attack from the right for perceived censorship and on the left for allegedly failing to crack down on misinformation.
Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for president, has promised to reform the 1996 law, and several US politicians have proposed changes that would impose extra conditions such as political neutrality.
The hearing will be the latest in a series of Washington grillings for tech bosses, which face criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. Federal and state agencies are conducting competition investigations into Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook, while a committee of Congressmen is investigating whether new laws are needed to address market dominance.
Republicans and Democrats are split on whether a hearing should be held before or after the US election on November 3, with Democrats claiming that a pre-election grilling could put pressure on tech companies to resist taking action against fake news. “This feels like an attempt to work the refs, five weeks out from the election,” said Democrat Senator Brian Schatz.
In July, Mr Zuckerberg, Mr Pichai, Apple’s Tim Cook and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos endured lengthy questioning from the House of Representatives antitrust subcommittee.
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