Three of Silicon Valley’s biggest tech companies will speak to three different congressional subcommittees on Wednesday and Thursday to finally get to the bottom of, well, a lot of issues. Top priority is to discuss Russia’s use of online ads and social media to influence the 2016 US election. Here’s how you can watch it all live, no pay TV required.
Photo: Getty
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2017/10/facebook-now-estimates-126-million-americans-viewed-russian-bought-political-propaganda/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/nwfpavwjoyf85qvsbhey.jpg” title=”Facebook Now Estimates 126 Million Americans Viewed Russian-Bought Political Propaganda” excerpt=”The scale of Russian efforts to fuel discord and resentment among US voters during the 2016 US election was far greater than previously disclosed, according to multiple reports surfacing on the eve of congressional testimony by top tech companies.”]
Facebook, Google and Twitter have elected to send their lawyers this time around. So no, unfortunately, we won’t get to watch Mark Zuckerberg try to convince US Congress that Facebook isn’t a media company. Instead, we’ll see lawyers, with Colin Stretch representing Facebook, Kent Walker and Richard Salgado representing Google, and Sean Edgett representing team Twitter.
The agenda of each hearing is expected to cover more than just Russia’s US election interference. The use of each platform to spread extremist content such as terrorist recruitment materials and the promotion of racist ideologies will be addressed. Harassment and bullying on social media are topics that the Senate Judiciary subcommittee plans to discuss. And, as Recode points out, the issue that the tech companies are probably most worried about will be the discussion of potential regulations. As these companies have come to influence nearly every facet of our lives, calls from the public and lawmakers for stricter regulations have picked up steam. Each company’s legal counsel will likely be armed with their own individual arguments for why they’re great at regulating themselves.
Here’s the schedule for each hearing and where you can watch them live:
November 1 5:30AM AEDT – Senate Judiciary subcommittee or here
Google, Facebook and Twitter will address questions from the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on the influence of Russian agents in the 2016 US election through social media platforms as well as the ongoing issue of harassment.
November 2 12:30AM AEDT – Senate Intelligence Committee
Google, Facebook and Twitter will testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee to address Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 US election through each of their platforms. The topic of combating extremist content is also on the agenda.
November 2 5:00AM AEDT – House Intelligence Committee
Google, Facebook and Twitter will testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee and address Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 US election through social media and advertising.