The Senate commerce committee held hearings with the CEOs of Google, Facebook and Twitter today. From the official press release:
The hearing will examine whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has outlived its usefulness in today’s digital age. It will also examine legislative proposals to modernize the decades-old law, increase transparency and accountability among big technology companies for their content moderation practices, and explore the impact of large ad-tech platforms on local journalism and consumer privacy. The hearing will provide an opportunity to discuss the unintended consequences of Section 230’s liability shield and how best to preserve the internet as a forum for open discourse.
Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet (Google) all appeared remotely.
I’m going to concentrate on Jack’s answers here. Pichai is a non-entity, a figurehead who is trotted out for performances like today. I’m pretty sure everyone is aware that Zuckerberg is an Android (does he dream of electric sheep?).
Full disclosure: this editor uses Twitter and Google extensively in the course of his duties here at Milvets and Patriots. While I have a Facebook account, I do not use it.