UPDATED 21:27 EDT / SEPTEMBER 04 2018

POLICY

What Facebook and Twitter will say to Congress this week

In an expanded grilling ceremony for tech giants, Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Jack Dorsey will testify before Congress starting Wednesday.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will question the pair over issues related to the influence bad actors might have concerning meddling with U.S. elections and public policy. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden said in a statement that they can expect “tough questions” regarding this topic.

Both Sandberg and Dorsey released prepared statements Tuesday, with the former sounding contrite to some extent. “We were too slow to spot this and too slow to act. That’s on us,” said Sandberg, adding: “We’re getting better at finding and combating our adversaries, from financially motivated troll farms to sophisticated military intelligence operations.”

Sandberg went on to say Facebook will weed out malicious content and block the users that send it. “When we find content that violates our policies, we will take it down,” she said. “And when our attackers use new techniques, we’ll share them to improve our collective defense.”

Dorsey released a lengthy statement before he goes in front of the committee, asserting as he has so many times lately that Twitter is working on becoming a place of healthier conversation where people can exchange opinions. He likened Twitter to the “global town square.”

Dorsey admitted that Twitter has been manipulated in the past by these bad actors, which he said is “unacceptable.” Nonetheless, he added that such activity linked to Russia was small. “We remain vigilant about identifying and eliminating abuse on the platform perpetrated by hostile foreign actors, and we will continue to invest in resources and leverage our technological capabilities to do so,” he said.

He will also face questions regarding President Trump’s accusation that Twitter has a left-leaning bias and has deliberately quieted the voices of conservatives. Dorsey said in an interview, “As long as we’re transparent around what’s guiding our decisions and enforcement, that we show willingness to evolve the rules as circumstances evolve,” heavy regulation isn’t needed.

As for how Twitter moderates, the CEO said no one was immune to censure or removal, alluding but not expressly saying that this included presidents. “So, my role is to ask questions and make sure we’re being impartial, and we’re upholding consistently our terms of service, including public interest,” he said.

As for Google LLC, the company won’t have a representative attending the hearing. The Senate Intelligence Committee reportedly rebuffed Google’s offer to send Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker because he wasn’t high-level enough. In a tweet, Warner wrote, “Larry Page should be there, too. It’s not too late for @Google to step up.”

Walker did prepare a statement, though, saying the company would address concerns over election ads via Google Search and disclosures on political ads. Google also said that regarding sending Walker, it had previously “understood that he would be an appropriate witness for this hearing.”

Warner said he wanted Google to discuss the matter of the company possibly getting back into to China with a censored search engine, something Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has said may or may not happen.

“Any effort to get back into China could enable the Chinese government in repressing and manipulating their citizens,” Warner said in a statement. “Google owes the public some answers about its reported plans.”

Image: Love/Flickr

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