What did Jack Dorsey and Sheryl Sandberg teach at Congress and Vice President?

The candor seemed to work. Even some of the most skeptical legislators have been impressed by Mr. Dorsey's willingness to commit. Rep. Joe L. Barton, a Republican from Texas who focused almost entirely on the fact that Twitter was limiting conservative voices, congratulated Mr. Dorsey for his appearance "without a subpoena and sitting alone – it's refreshing ".

The regulatory future remains a mystery.

At the heart of these hearings was a complex, rarely discussed question: what power does Congress have to regulate the way technology companies manage their services?

Under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the 1996 law governing most online behavior, technology companies enjoy a high degree of immunity from the liability arising from the fact that users post on their services. Technology people generally agree that the law has played a crucial role in the rise of the Internet: companies like Facebook and YouTube can not be sued for defamation or defamation.

Would it be a good idea, now that these companies are so big and so powerful, to limit this type of immunity? Should the Congress try to exercise more control over how these companies manage their services – perhaps to ensure transparency and perhaps, like the Federal Communications Speech Commission?

Some lawmakers addressed these ideas on Wednesday, but none tackled the main difficulties. Some of the more difficult ones involve the first amendment, which prevents the government from dictating or censoring speech. Although technology companies, being privately owned, are free to limit any speech they wish on their networks, it was unclear whether Congress had any basis for requiring certain policies from them. equity or speech.

"I do not think we started fighting with deep constitutional issues," said David Pozen, a professor of constitutional law at Columbia Law School. He pointed out that technology companies themselves have a right of first amendment to the rules imposed by the government on their services.

Kate Klonick, a professor at St. John's University School of Law who has done a great deal of research on the content policies of technology companies, said she has consulted with many lawmakers on these issues.

"These are serious and serious problems that some of us have been working on for a very long time, and they have simmered and matured without resolution," she said. "Maybe you can say, now that people end up paying attention, maybe we're stumbling to a better understanding of what's involved."