In a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last November 17, 2020, Big Tech CEOs Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg defended their policies for moderating content on their platforms. Republicans alleged that the companies were anti-conservative while Democrats attacked the Twitter and Facebook’s role in the spread of misinformation. Lawmakers are currently debating whether to repeal or amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act which protects social media platforms from being sued over the material shared by their users.
In his opening remarks, committee chairman Lindsey Graham asked: “What I want to try to find out is if you’re not a newspaper at Twitter or Facebook, then why do you have editorial control over the New York Post?”
Editor’s Note: The following article shows us exactly how much power Big Tech companies have over governments. For one, there is no law that makes Big Tech companies accountable for the content in their platform. Second, these companies have full control over their censorship policies, hence allowing them to take down even constitutionally protected speech.
While one cannot expect that the senate hearings will result in a drastic change in policy, they are nevertheless good practices as it enables normal citizens to become aware of the various anomalous practices of social media platforms.
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‘More power than traditional media’: Facebook, Twitter policies attacked
WASHINGTON — Republican senators on Tuesday attacked the chief executives of Facebook and Twitter for what they called censorship of President Donald Trump and his allies during the U.S. election
‘More power than traditional media’: Facebook, Twitter policies attacked
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