Top executives at Facebook and Twitter commenced hours of testimony Wednesday on Capitol Hill in hearings that are designed to address foreign influence and political bias, but will likely include a sprawling list of grievances against the nation's biggest and most influential social networks.
In the first hearing, Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Jack Dorsey are meeting with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, whose members wanted assurances the platforms could protect its hundreds of millions of users from foreign interference.
With the midterm approaching, lawmakers don't want a repeat of the 2016 election, in which Russian actors spread misinformation and set up fake accounts to sow discord within the American public.
Google was conspicuously absent from the hearing. The Senate committee had invited Larry Page, chief executive of Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. But Google declined and countered by offering to send its chief legal officer, Kent Walker. The committee rejected Page's replacement and Google submitted written testimony instead that focused on security measures.
Members of the committee wanted to ask about reports that Google was working on a censored search engine for China. The company has also been criticized for its handling of YouTube, which has also been exploited for foreign propaganda.
"I'm deeply disappointed that Google, one of the most influential digital platforms in the world, chose not to send its own top corporate leadership to engage this committee," Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Senate committee, said in prepared opening remarks.
Other senators also expressed disappointment in Google, which was represented at the hearing by an empty chair. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) used the company's absence as the impetus to ask Sandberg and Dorsey about whether they retain their company values in foreign markets with nondemocratic leadership.
He cited Twitter's willingness to block government critics in Turkey and reports that Facebook had worked on a program that would restrict certain content depending on a user's geography.
"We support our principles all around the world," Sandberg said.
Dorsey said Twitter has to comply with local laws. He said people in Turkey are still able to read banned accounts by using virtual private network software.
Dorsey is scheduled to face the House Energy and Commerce Committee later in the day to address charges of political bias on Twitter. Conservatives, led by President Donald Trump, have accused Twitter of stifling right-wing voices on the platform. Twitter has vehemently denied censoring conservatives _ and has even angered critics on the left for allowing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones back onto the social network after a brief suspension.
"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 was to say in prepared remarks to the House committee. "We believe strongly in being impartial, and we strive to enforce our rules impartially. ... In fact, from a simple business perspective and to serve the public conversation, Twitter is incentivized to keep all voices on the platform."
Sandberg's appearance comes five months after her boss, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, faced Congress in hearings that mostly underscored how ill-equipped lawmakers were dealing with the complexity of foreign influence and data privacy.
In prepared remarks, Sandberg reiterated Facebook's regret for not acting more swiftly to prevent foreign meddling on its networks in the lead-up to the 2016 election, and highlighted how much the company has done since.
Facebook has doubled the number of workers focused on security and safety issues to 20,000. And it's shutting down more accounts it calls "inauthentic," including a recent batch tied to Iranian and Russian authorities.
"We're shutting down fake accounts and reducing the spread of false news," Sandberg said in the remarks. "We've put in place new ad transparency policies, ad content restrictions, and documentation requirements for political ad buyers. We're getting better at anticipating risks and taking a broader view of our responsibilities. And we're working closely with law enforcement and our industry peers to share information and make progress together."
The company has also increased transparency in its advertising, allowing users to see all ads a particular Facebook page is running as well as disclosing who paid for any political ad.
Those efforts have come at a considerable cost. Facebook, which has 2 billion users to Twitter's 300 million, reported disappointing second-quarter financial results that sparked a massive sell-off.
In addition to its controversy with Russian meddling, the company has had to weather the Cambridge Analytica scandal and strict new European privacy rules that have both highlighted the vulnerability of the user data Facebook hoards.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked Sandberg and Dorsey if they agreed that protecting user data is a national security issue (they agreed) and pressed Facebook to share internal audits showing how the company shared user information with cellphone manufacturers, particularly with Chinese brands with ties to the Chinese military, Huawei and ZTE. Sandberg could not commit to sharing the audit.
"Personal data is now the weapon of choice for political influence campaigns and we must not make it easier for adversaries to seize these weapons against use," Wyden said.
