Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who delivered the opening address of Google I / O 2017, has agreed to testify before Congress.(Photo: Eric Risberg, AP)

SAN FRANCISCO – Google CEO Sundar Pichai has agreed to testify before the House's Judiciary Committee in November to address concerns over Internet giant's business practices.

The agreement was reached in a private hearing with a dozen GOP lawmakers on Friday at Capitol Hill, where Pichai was facing a flood of questions, including Google's bias toward the Conservatives. Google has repeatedly denied any political bias in Internet search results.

"I know that many of us have been to Silicon Valley and have spent time with technology companies changing our world, and to this day – I think a lot of progress has been positive," said Kevin. McCarthy. . "But as the activity of big technology grows, we have not had enough transparency and this has led to an erosion of trust and perhaps worse – to a prejudice for consumers."

In a statement, Pichai said he met Republicans and Democrats for two days during talks he described as "constructive and informative."

"We remain committed to continuing an active dialogue with members on both sides, working proactively with Congress on a variety of issues, explaining how our products are helping millions of US consumers and businesses, and answering questions," said Pichai. .

This was a radical change of tone for Google and lawmakers. Earlier this month, Google refused to send Pichai or Larry Page, CEO of the parent company Google Alphabet, to testify before a senatorial intelligence commission alongside top executives of Facebook and Twitter

"I want to thank Sundar for taking time to be with us, I should note that Sundar was to be in Asia this week, but he canceled this trip to be here today," McCarthy said. . "This is the beginning of a conversation that I think has been long overdue – and this responsibility lies with both parties."

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The private meeting in McCarthy's office was held the same week as Google's privacy director, Keith Enright, was grilled by lawmakers at an online Senate hearing on the company exploring a new product. research for China. launched.

Censorship charges against Silicon Valley, a leftist party, were raised at numerous hearings on Capitol Hill and became a conservative rallying cry before the mid-term elections. They are also the subject of a new documentary, "The Creepy Line," by conservative author Peter Schweizer. A recent Media Research Center poll conducted by McLaughlin & Associates found that 65% of self-proclaimed conservatives think social media companies intentionally censure political rights.

Until recently, lawmakers had focused their criticism on another tech giant, Facebook, after a series of privacy breaches and the uncontrolled spread of online propaganda by Russian agents during and after the first time. 2016 presidential election.

Now, Google, which dominates research activities around the world and whose YouTube video service has been criticized for disseminating theories of misinformation and conspiracy, is facing a tighter examination of its business practices and news. regulatory threats.

Google was frequently mentioned at a meeting Tuesday with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and law enforcement officials in the state of the country to explore antitrust investigations and data privacy.

The attacks on Google have intensified in recent weeks. Trump and other prominent Republicans have accused Google and other technology companies of suppressing and censoring conservative voices and views. Last month, Trump said the search results for "Trump News" were "RIGGED, for me and for others, so almost all articles and news are ADB."

McCarthy had also criticized Google for the search results, tweeting the results that mistakenly said the ideology of the Californian Republican Party included "Nazism" was a "shame". Google has blamed "vandalism" on Wikipedia.

Google claims to not rank search results to manipulate political sentiment, but last week the "Wall Street Journal" reported that Google employees had been discussing ways to change search results for the ban on travel through Trump's immigration against predominantly Muslim countries. And the right information site, Breitbart, got an internal video after Trump's election in 2016, in which Alphabet executives, a parent of Google, expressed dismay.

McCarthy, who has intensified his criticism of Google in recent weeks, has targeted Google by failing to send the CEO of Alphabet, Larry Page or Pichai, to a hearing of the Senate commission on electoral interference. Google had proposed to send Kent Walker, his senior vice president for international affairs and an interlocutor on electoral interference, but the offer was rejected by the committee. Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, and Twitter's CEO, Jack Dorsey, answered Senators' questions at the hearing, next to an empty chair labeled "Google" .

Dan Schnur, a professor at the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California, says Google made a mistake by failing to show up at the Senate hearing but the company understood

"In Washington, you have a second chance to make a first impression," Schnur said. "Even if there are harsh feelings, they come forward cooperatively to go forward, they should be fine."

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