US panel to grill Facebook, Google, Twitter CEOs on Oct 28

Advertisement
US panel to grill Facebook, Google, Twitter CEOs on Oct 28
San Francisco, Oct 3 (IANS) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will be grilled by a US panel on October 28 over the Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The hearing will also cover the topics of privacy and media domination.
Advertisement

The CEOs will testify on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies from liability over the content posted by users on their online services, reports CNBC.

The US Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday voted to subpoena the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify before the panel.

Complimentary Tech Event
Transform talent with learning that works
Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More
The hearing will be Zuckerberg and Pichai's first appearance before Congress since the two testified along with Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos before the House Antitrust Subcommittee in July.

US President Donald Trump's May 28 executive order sought to blunt Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act which generally protects internet companies from legal liability for user comments.

Advertisement

Republicans have repeatedly turned to Section 230 as a key area for reform in response to their concerns that social media companies censor conservative voices, a charge denied by Facebook, Google and Twitter.

Washington Senator Maria Cantwell who initially opposed the subpoena introduced by Chairman Roger Wicker (Republican-Miss) said she supported the move after Republicans included language in the subpoena about privacy and "media domination."

"What I don't want to see is a chilling effect on individuals who are in a process of trying to crack down on hate speech or misinformation about Covid during a pandemic," she was quoted as saying.

"I welcome the debate about [Section] 230," Cantwell said.

Section 230 states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider".

Advertisement
--IANS

na/
{{}}

(This story has not been edited by Business Insider and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed we subscribe to.)