Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified alone before the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday to answer questions about topics like political bias among the company\u2019s employees. Pichai\u2026<\/b>
\nGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai testified alone before the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday to answer questions about topics like political bias among the company\u2019s employees.
Pichai emphasized the apolitical nature of the algorithms that determine search results for Google customers and downplayed Republicans\u2019 fears that Google employees banded together to alter results for political purposes.
WATCH:
\u201c I know Google\u2019s attitude, \u2018the algorithm made us do it,’\u201d Republican Ohio Rep. Steve Chabot asked Pichai early in the hearing. \u201cBut I don\u2019t know that I buy that. How do you explain this apparent bias on Google\u2019s part against conservative points of view, against conservative policies? Is it just the algorithm or is there more happening there?\u201d (RELATED: Google Employees Sought To Block Breitbart From Ads, Emails Show)
\u201cBut what is important here is we use the robust methodology to reflect what is being said about any given topic at any particular time,\u201d Pichai said. \u201cAnd we try to do it objectively using a set of rubrics. It is in our interest to make sure we reflect what\u2019s happening out there in the best objective manner possible. I can commit to you and I can assure you we do it without regards to political ideology. Our algorithms have no notion of political sentiment.\u201d
Google CEO Sundar Pichai prepares to testify as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks before the House Judiciary Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 11,2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong\/Getty Images)
Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz pushed Pichai to explain why Google had not investigated whether Google employees had manipulated search tools or other Google products in light of communications like emails about Breitbart that leaked Monday.
\u201cHow can I have confidence that you\u2019re protecting the sanctity of your system when you don\u2019t even know your employees are getting together on your own company\u2019s infrastructure to talk about political activity?\u201d Gaetz asked Pichai.
\u201cAt any given moment we assume that somebody may be acting in bad faith, and that\u2019s how we have designed our systems with all the protections in place,\u201d Pichai said.
Republican lawmakers questioned Google over examples of political bias. Those examples include leaked communications published by The Daily Caller News Foundation that showed the tech giant\u2019s employees debated burying conservative media outlets in Google\u2019s search function as a response to President Donald Trump\u2019s election.
Leaked Google emails surfaced as recently as Monday night. Breitbart published emails showing that Google employees tried to block Breitbart from Google AdSense less than one month after Trump assumed the presidency.
Committee member House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy emphasized Google\u2019s outsized role in modern life during his opening remarks.
\u201cAccording to the Wall Street J ournal, 90 percent of all Internet searches go through Google. That is power,\u201d McCarthy said \u201c It comes with responsibility. Mr. Pichai, it was necessary to convene this hearing because of the widening gap of distrust between technology companies and the American people.\u201d
The hearing was titled \u201cTransparency & Accountability: Examining Google and its Data Collection, Use and Filtering Practices.\u201d It was originally scheduled for Dec. 5, but was pushed back because of former president George H. W. Bush\u2019s funeral.
Republican operative Roger Stone and Alex Jones of InfoWars were in the audience at the hearing, reported C-SPAN .
Some public figures on the right have come down hard on Google. Republican Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar called on the Department of Justice to investigate Google on Nov. 30, and Republican Missouri Sen.-elect Josh Hawley called for Google execs to explain themselves \u201cunder oath.\u201d
Republican lawmakers also criticized Pichai for skipping a Sept. 5 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on social media and foreign election meddling. Facebook and Twitter executives testified, and an empty chair with a nameplate that said \u201cGoogle\u201d sat where the company\u2019s representative would have been.
An empty seat for Google is seen during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing concerning foreign influence operations\u2019 use of social media platforms, on Capitol Hill, September 5,2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)
Google had been willing to send senior vice president of global affairs Kent Walker to the Sept. 5 Senate hearing, but the committee said no, reported Politico. Walker submitted roughly five pages of written testimony to the committee despite the rejection.
Pichai, 46, has worked for Google since 2004, according to the Wall Street Journal .
President Donald Trump accused Google of bias against conservatives, including an Aug. 28 tweet calling Google search results \u201crigged.\u201d
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