Facebook, Twitter cop Washington grilling

Senior executives from Facebook and Twitter questioned over elections and whether they have a baked-in anti-Trump bias.

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter chief executive officer Jack Dorsey testify during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. Photo: AFP

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions plans to gather the country’s state attorneys-general to discuss whether social media giants may be harming competition and “intentionally stifling” certain viewpoints, stepping up pressure on the platforms over alleged anti-conservative bias.

The Justice Department raised the prospect of a possible investigation just as Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey were wrapping up morning testimony about protecting their platforms from foreign influence.

In the Senate hearing, they expressed contrition for allowing their platforms to be abused in the past while pledging to make protecting their systems during the 2018 midterm elections a priority.

The day’s actions produced a split-screen effect: As most Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee focused their attention on whether the U.S. midterms are sufficiently safeguarded, the Trump administration focused on its longstanding complaint: that the platforms are allegedly biased against allies of President Trump.

In an interview published Wednesday morning with the Daily Caller, Mr Trump accused social media companies of interfering in elections in favor of the Democrats.

“The truth is they were all on Hillary Clinton’s side,” he said. In a statement, Justice Department spokesman Devin O’Malley said the agency listened “closely” to the morning’s testimony. He said Attorney General Jeff Sessions has convened a meeting this month with state attorneys general “to discuss a growing concern that these companies may be hurting competition and intentionally stifling the free exchange of ideas on their platforms.” A Justice Department spokesman said alleged stifling of viewpoints has been a longstanding concern of Mr Sessions and the meeting had been in the works before Wednesday morning’s hearing.

Mr Trump had previously levied claims against Google last week that it was elevating critical news stories about his presidency at the expense of friendly conservative voices, an assertion

Alex Jones, the right-wing conspiracy theorist, walks the corridors of Capitol Hill after listening to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Picture AP.

Google has rejected.

There was no Google representative at Wednesday’s hearing, amid a dispute with the committee over how senior an executive the company needed to send. The company was represented by an empty chair next to Facebook’s Ms Sandberg and Twitter’s Mr Dorsey.

Alex Jones, the founder of far-right conspiracy site Infowars and one of the most prominent critics of social-media services, attended the Senate hearing. At one point, he berated Republican Senator Marco Rubio, calling him a “frat boy” and touching him on the shoulder during a media scrum. Mr Rubio professed not to know who he was and he told him not to touch him.

“You’re not going to get arrested, man. You’re not going to get arrested; I’ll take care of you myself,” Mr Rubio said.

Several technology companies, including Apple and Facebook have removed content from Infowars, saying it violated company policies. Mr Jones was also briefly suspended by Twitter.

In the hearing room, lawmakers and witnesses focused on preventing a replay of the 2016 election, in which Russian agents launched a multipronged cyber campaign to influence the election, and to tilt voters in Mr Trump’s favour, according to the US intelligence community.

“Let me be clear: We are more determined than our opponents and we will keep fighting,” Ms Sandberg said in her remarks, during which she outlined the various changes Facebook has made to its platform to make political ads more transparent and suppress demonstrably false news.

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter chief executive officer Jack Dorsey testify. Picture: AFP

For his part, Mr Dorsey expressed, in personal terms, the importance of Twitter to public discourse. He added that the company was investigating what type of behaviour the platform incentivises. He later said Twitter was exploring a new feature to label bots. “We are going to do something along those lines,” he said.

On Wednesday afternoon, the House Commerce Committee questioned Mr Dorsey, whose platform has been a focus of many Republicans’ ire, about alleged bias on the platform.

Republican Representative Billy Long used his skills as a professional auctioneer to try to drown out a protester who briefly interrupted the hearing to call Mr Dorsey a liar and urge President Trump to help address online censorship. She was holding up a selfie stick with a phone, giving the general impression of an auction paddle.

“Four hundred, four and a quarter, four and a half, we’re selling the cellphone there... five and a quarter, five and a half,” continued Mr Long, rattling off rising bids.

“I yield back,” Mr Long said to laughter and applause, as the protester exited. During the Senate hearing, lawmakers expressed doubt about the effectiveness of the platforms’ measures so far.

“Clearly this problem’s not going away,” Republican Senator Richard Burr, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, said in opening remarks. “I’m not even sure it’s trending in the right direction.” The panel’s top Democrat, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, told the executives he was “sceptical that ultimately you’ll be able to address this problem on your own.” He has already circulated a white paper with options for far-reaching congressional action.

Other members of Congress also have begun considering legislation on issues ranging from online privacy to political bias to the tech platforms’ legal responsibility for users’ actions.

On US markets, the hearings sparked declines in internet-related shares and helped drag down the S&P 500 index. The stumble for technology shares came as worries about heavier regulation have hung over the market’s best-performing sector, and some investors are also anxious that tariffs will hurt trade-dependent internet firms.

with Dustin Volz and John D. McKinnon.

Dow Jones Newswires