CEOs from Twitter and Facebook struggled to provide one example of a liberal being censored on their respective platforms during a Senate hearing about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on October 28. The “Does Section 230’s Sweeping Immunity Enable Big Tech Bad Behavior?” hearing featured questioning of these Big Tech CEOs led by Chairman and Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss).
Republican lawmakers have argued that social media companies disproportionately target conservative viewpoints while giving a free pass to liberal ones. On October 14 when the New York Post shared a bombshell exposé reportedly linking former Democrat Vice President Joe Biden and his family to corrupt activities, both Twitter and Facebook made concerted efforts to stifle the report’s distribution.
“I think everybody on this call could agree that they could identify at least five, maybe 10, maybe more high-profile conservative examples,” Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) said as the CEO for Facebook and Twitter respectively struggled to come up with a single example of liberal censorship.
“I’m just asking you if you can name for me one high-profile liberal person or company who you have censored,” Lee stated. “I just want one name of one person or one entity.”
In response, Zuckerberg and Dorsey failed to identify any examples and said they would have to circle back to provide Sen. Lee with a list.
“I’m not asking for an exhaustive list. I’m asking for a single example — one — just one individual, one entity. Any one.”
The fumbling from Zuckerberg and Dorsey gave Pichai ample time to consider his answer. He said Google has “turned down” ads from the left-leaning nonprofit Priorities USA and Joe Biden’s campaign, and talked about compliance issues from the World Socialist Review which Google has taken action on.
Lee argued these tech companies shouldn’t promise fairness as a business practice if they are unable to deliver on that promise to consumers.
“Given the disparate impact of who gets censored on your platforms, it seems that you’re either one, not enforcing your terms of service equally, or alternatively, two, that you’re writing your standards to target conservative viewpoints,” Lee said. “You can’t promise certain corporate behavior and then deceive customers through contradictory actions.”
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representative and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
