Big Tech Goes To Washington...Again

WAMU 88.5

Published September 6, 2018 at 9:18 AM CDT

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 5: (L-R) Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter chief executive officer Jack Dorsey testify during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing concerning foreign influence operations' use of social media platforms, on Capitol Hill.

On Wednesday, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testified at back-to-back House and Senate hearings. The two execs faced questioning over disinformation, privacy, censorship, and election interference on their platforms.

Ahead of the hearings, Sandberg released her opening remarks to Congress. You can read her testimony in full here, courtesy of CNBC.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Alphabet CEO Larry Page were invited to the hearings but both declined. Google instead offered to send SVP of global affairs Kent Walker, who testified last fall, but the Senate committee rejected the proposal. In lieu of a representative, Google released its planned remarks in a blog post.

We’ll discuss the two hearings, as well as what Facebook and Twitter are doing to govern their platforms leading up to the midterms.

In the meantime, here’s what FCC chairman Ajit Pai says he hoped to learn from the hearings.

*Show produced by Avery Kleinman, text by Kathryn Fink*.

GUESTS

Cecilia Kang, Technology reporter, The New York Times; @ceciliakang

Craig Aaron, President and CEO, Free Press; @notaaroncraig

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