Sessions give weight to DOJ when it comes to complaints about social media bias

Technology

The GM is concerned about "free exchange of ideas". But an industry representative wondered if the goal was to intimidate technology companies.

Wednesday was to be the Silicon Valley Day in Washington, on Republican accusations of anti-conservative bias.

Then Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinforced the stakes by announcing that his Justice Department would look into the matter – an action that follows weeks of complaints from President Donald Trump.

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In the news that has landed between the two technology-focused Congressional hearings, the DOJ said that Sessions will convene a number of state attorneys general in September "to discuss the growing concern that these companies are adversely affecting the competition. Ideas on their platforms. "This development was reflected throughout the technology industry – which sought to determine exactly what Sessions was going to do.

Some industry members have said that the announcement of the Department of Justice raises concerns about politicization.

"The mix of" competition "and" exchange of ideas "is prompting governments to use antitrust laws to intimidate businesses to make them pro-Trump administration," said Ed Black, CEO of the Computer Industry Association. "It's disturbing." Facebook and Google are both members of the CCIA.

Sessions, however, is not the first Republican to raise the notion of greater government oversight of online platforms.

"I'm not looking for a lot of regulation, I'm looking for responsibilities," said House Energy and Commerce President Greg Walden (R-Ore.), At an event in February. "If responsibility does not flow, then regulation will be."

Trump in recent weeks has repeatedly hammered out the idea – popularized by Majority House Leader Kevin McCarthy and other prominent Conservatives – that Twitter, Facebook and Google have a party taken against the conservatives. This is clear. But much of the rest of what the DOJ does is a mystery, say industry people, especially if the attorneys general's general awareness is bipartisan and if the DOJ is considering ways to apply competition law to issues partisan discrimination.

The DOJ dropped its opinion between a Senate hearing on election security with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook operations director Sheryl Sandberg and a hearing in the House over allegations of bias. The DOJ said in its statement that he had "listened … attentively" to the Senate session, a somewhat confusing note, given that the bias was hardly raised at this hearing.

A DOJ source indicated that the session with sessions and local officials was scheduled to take place on September 25th and was scheduled before the hearing to address the long-standing concerns of the Attorney General.

Carl Szabo, Vice President and General Counsel of the trade association NetChoice, said the pressure from his conservative colleagues for increased monitoring of digital platforms is ill-conceived.

"Conservative values ​​are centered on the idea that businesses should be allowed to do what they think is best for their customers, and that's exactly what these companies do," he said. Szabo. Facebook and Google are members of NetChoice.

Asked about the type of legal argument about competition The sessions might make sense: "It makes no sense to me," said Szabo, a former Federal Trade Commission official with Republican Orson's staff Swindle.

Advocacy with Crowns is important – many of the regulatory actions taken in recent years against the technology sector have occurred at the local level. California has recently passed a series of privacy rules that the sector is opposed to, and Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican, has announced that he is investigating Google for antitrust and confidentiality reasons. .

Hawley said at the time, "I will not let consumers and businesses in Missouri be exploited by industry giants."

Dorsey had a question regarding the DOJ's surprise announcement at Wednesday afternoon's hearing. Florida Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor asked if the CEO of Twitter felt like he was the target of a "manipulation campaign", especially when the action of the Justice Department comes as the campaign

"Now, the Justice Department even says," My boy, it's so serious that we have to investigate, "Castor said.

Dorsey did not take the bait saying that he appreciated the concerns about the platform that he runs.

"It's a very diplomatic answer, I must say," Castor replied.

Democratic legislators, however, have been quick to say that the huge amount of attention Republicans give to the alleged prejudice of social media is little more than political overtaking.

"As reported in the news, the Trump campaign and the Republican majority leader have used the so-called anti-conservative online party to raise funds," said New Jersey Representative Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the Energy and Trade Committee. . This hearing seems to be just one more mechanism to raise funds and induce outrage. It seems that Republicans are desperately trying to rally their base by fabricating a problem that simply does not exist.

Dorsey found himself in a difficult situation throughout his day at Capitol Hill. The complaints that Twitter was mingling with conservative tweets were mixed with calls for it to help improve the quality of public debate on Twitter.

By rejecting bias complaints, many people in the tech industry claim that social media has been a benefit to the Conservatives. The Tea Party first found traction there, they point out, and Trump is among its most prominent users.

Trump, in fact, often turns to Twitter to complain about his own administration, including Sessions. On Monday, for example, Trump mocked the Sessions for recently filing a lawsuit against two Republican members of Congress shortly before the mid-term elections that will determine congressional control. "Good job Jeff …… [sic], " the president tweeted.