Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addresses the House on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law during a July 29, 2020, hearing on “Plaline Platforms and Market Power” at the Riburn House Office Fee Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Mendel Nagan | Pool by Reuters
The CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter have agreed to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on October 28.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will testify under Section 230 of the Communications Dissentation Act. That rule protects technology companies from liability for content posted by users on their services online, while allowing it to be moderated. The hearing will also cover topics of privacy and “media dominance”.
The agreement was reached on Thursday after the committee urgently voted unanimously to CEO if necessary.
Republicans have repeatedly called for Section 230 to be amended in response to concerns about online platforms such as Facebook, Google’s YouTube and Twitter censorship. The platforms have repeatedly denied that they are suppressing a rigid view or news, but the platforms sometimes made mistakes or took action against taking down-down decisions, leading to further criticism.
In May, President Donald Trump challenged Section 230 by signing an executive order cracking down on “censorship” by social media companies.
It has been confirmed via Twitter that Dorsey will attend the hearing By a tweet Friday evening. A Facebook spokesperson has confirmed Zuckerberg’s involvement. A spokesman for the committee confirmed that all three would attend on that date.
The hearing will be Zuckerberg and Pichai’s first appearance before Congress, as they both testified before the House Antitrust Subcommittee in July, along with Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
–CNBC Lauren Finner Contributed to this report.
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