Senate Commerce Committee voted unanimously to compel the CEOs to testify on issues of perceived political bias.
A Senate panel has moved to compel testimony from the CEOs of social media giants Facebook, Google and Twitter, as lawmakers opened a new front in rhetorical battles over hate speech, misinformation and perceived political bias on internet platforms a month before the presidential election. The Senate Commerce Committee voted Thursday to authorize subpoenas for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, to force them to appear at a planned hearing if they don’t agree to do so voluntarily. The committee’s unanimous vote marked the start of a new bipartisan initiative against Big Tech companies, which have been under increasing scrutiny and pressure in Washington and from state attorneys general over issues of competition, consumer privacy and hate speech. With President Donald Trump in the lead, conservative Republicans have kept up a barrage of criticism of Silicon Valley’s social media platforms, which they accuse — without evidence — of deliberately suppressing conservative views. The Justice Department has asked Congress to for online platforms like Facebook, Google and Twitter, putting down a legislative marker in Mr.
