Google\u2018s chief executive Sundar Pichai today appeared on Capitol Hill to answer questions about a number of issues. Most pressing were issues with the collection of data, plans for a heavily censored Chinese search engine, and how to best combat misinformation, including what role, if any, Google should play in stopping it. In keeping up\u2026<\/b>
\nGoogle\u2018s chief executive Sundar Pichai today appeared on Capitol Hill to answer questions about a number of issues. Most pressing were issues with the collection of data, plans for a heavily censored Chinese search engine, and how to best combat misinformation, including what role, if any, Google should play in stopping it.
In keeping up with tradition, today\u2019s testimony wasn\u2019t without a bit of meme fodder. It didn\u2019t quite reach the level of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explaining how free services made money on the internet to Sen. Orrin Hatch, or pointing out that WhatsApp isn\u2019t an email platform to Sen. Brian Schatz, but it did have a few, choice \u201cold people internetting\u201d moments. And it\u2019s these moments we relish, the times when simple questions can convince us, unequivocally, that our elected officials understand the tech-centric world we live in.
First came this exchange, with Rep. Steve King, on why he sees unwelcome news on his iPhone.
Pichai appeared to chuckle slightly, before composing himself and calmly informing the congressman that Google does not make the iPhone. You can catch the head-scratching moment here.
It\u2019s unclear from the exchange, but the unwanted content King speaks of could be numerous news pieces that outlined his past racist tirades and affiliation with white nationalist groups.
Congressman Ted Lieu later provided clarification for King.
So I\u2019m going to search for \u2018Congressman Steve King.\u2019 I\u2019m going to hit the \u2018News\u2019 tab. First article that pops up is from ABC News. It says \u2018Steve King\u2019s racist immigration talk prompts calls for congressional censure. That\u2019s a negative article. But you don\u2019t have a group at Google sitting there thinking and trying to modify search results every time Steve King comes up. That\u2019s not what\u2019s happening, right?
Pichai confirmed that it wasn\u2019t, stating that Google does not manipulate search results.
Lieu continued:
via GIPHY
Here\u2019s the video, for anyone interested in watching King\u2019s public flogging at the hands of Rep. Lieu.
Lieu, better than many of his colleagues, seems to understand the problem. Conservatives have, for years now, cried foul, believing that tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Twitter were silencing conservative voices and surfacing only negative content. I discuss Google\u2019s actual biases here, if you\u2019re interested.
But while Lieu seems to get it, a shocking number of politicians really don\u2019t. And that\u2019s cause for concern to anyone paying attention as these hearings unfold.
LIVE: Google CEO Sundar Pichai testifies on Data Collection (C-SPAN) on C-SPAN| YouTube
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