Twitter isn’t biased for or against any type of partisan but is working on ways to raise the level of debate on its platform, the company’s CEO will tell a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C., today.
In prepared testimony released Tuesday before a Senate hearing Wednesday, Twitter chief executive officer Jack Dorsey says, “Twitter does not use political ideology to make any decisions, whether related to ranking content on our service or how we enforce our rules.”
Dorsey and other tech titans will be in the U.S. capital on Wednesday to testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is still probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, along with the general growing influence of social media to disseminate information.
Dorsey’s testimony comes as some Republicans, including President Donald Trump, are increasingly claiming that social media and other mainstream online platforms are innately biased against conservative voices.
….results on “Trump News” are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!
—@realDonaldTrump
“We believe strongly in being impartial, and we strive to enforce our rules impartially,” Dorsey will tell lawmakers Wednesday, according to a copy of his prepared remarks released in advance.
“From a simple business perspective and to serve the public conversation, Twitter is incentivized to keep all voices on the platform.”
Facebook will attend, too
Dorsey won’t be the only tech executive in the hot seat, however. Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg will also face questions, mainly surrounding what her company has done to crack down on abuse and other forms of content designed to mislead.
Facebook has faced criticism for being a hotbed of misinformation during the 2016 election, with a large chunk of the content subsequently found to have been coming from Russian-backed troll farms.
“We were too slow to spot this and too slow to act,” Sandberg will say. “That’s on us. This interference was completely unacceptable. It violated the values of our company and of the country we love.”
Facebook says it has removed hundreds of accounts and pages in recent months that seem to exist for no other reason other than spreading false information.
“We’re shutting down fake accounts and reducing the spread of false news,” Sandberg said.
“Our adversaries are determined, creative, and well-funded. But we are even more determined — and we will continue to fight back.