With Heat From Democrats, Goodlatte Blasts Facebook, Twitter, Google Absences

“Unfortunately, these platforms, who purport to ‘help people connect,’ appear more interested in saving face than engaging on the issues face-to-face,” Goodlatte said. His opening remarks cited a Pew survey from March showing 68 percent of U.S. adults use Facebook, 40 percent of 18- to 24-year-old Americans use Twitter, and Google’s YouTube attracts 30 million viewers daily. Goodlatte accused all three of political bias, saying there's a fine line between filtering illicit content and suppressing speech.

Ranking member Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., criticized Republicans for refusing to issue subpoenas for information from Trump campaign consultants Cambridge Analytica and Giles-Parscale before the Facebook privacy breach (see 1804100054 and 1804110065). He asked why Republicans refused to hold a hearing with Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie but hosted Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, also known as Diamond and Silk, conservative social media personalities and supporters of President Donald Trump, who testified Thursday. Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform Democrats met with Wylie Wednesday. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said it appeared Republicans were giving Diamond and Silk a platform.

House Communications Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who had a spat with Twitter over alleged campaign censoring, described big tech platforms as the new public square and executives the new governors. She questioned Facebook’s algorithms, which she said filter audiences from accessing conservative content. Goodlatte said it would have been good to have representatives from the platforms at the hearing to defend their algorithms. Google and Twitter didn’t comment. Facebook looks "forward to a continuing dialogue with members of the Committee about Facebook’s strong commitment to being a platform for all voices and ideas,” a spokesman repeated in a statement from Wednesday.

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., who testified like Blackburn, called it “a hoax” that Facebook and other social media platforms are deliberately favoring left-leaning content. He claimed half of Facebook’s users are conservative, so there's no financial incentive to filter content. The “boring truth” isn't convenient for conservatives and draws no fear or anger, he said, and without the latter, constituents might not show up at the polls.

Diamond and Silk appeared on a panel with News Media Alliance CEO David Chavern, TechFreedom founder Berin Szoka and New York Law School professor Ari Waldman. Hardaway accused Facebook of falsely labeling the duo’s content as “very liberal,” which resulted in advertising mismatches and a declining audience. She called Facebook’s algorithms a tactless design to filter and de-monetize the group’s content. Szoka defended the platforms, saying it’s not Facebook’s fault young users lean left. He warned against tightening regulation for internet platforms, saying social media is different from broadcast, given the web is fully protected by the First Amendment. Waldman said Facebook exists in a “regulatory void,” arguing the Cambridge Analytica scandal shows the platform doesn’t care about protecting user privacy. Facebook shares rebounded Thursday after its Q1 earnings report showed revenue soared 49 percent year over year to $11.9 billion (see 1804260017).

Nadler said even if the Diamond and Silk presence was mistreated, it doesn’t establish a pattern of bias, which was the subject of the hearing. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, cited documents he said justify calling it a pattern: comments from the Gateway Pundit owner Jim Hoft, a conservative blogger who accused Facebook of filtering, and Christian groups accusing Google of filtering Bible quotes.

Chavern called social media companies “attention businesses.” Their algorithms are secret rules, which create a lot of skepticism, he said, and either through legislation or self-governing, platforms will need to prioritize quality of content over viewership. Waldman said 4Chan is an example of a platform with dubious moderation practices that has become a haven for hate groups and disturbing content.

During an exchange with Hardaway and Richardson, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, repeatedly questioned whether Diamond and Silk received payments for services from the Trump campaign. The sisters denied any payments numerous times while under oath. Federal Election Commission filings show Trump’s campaign paid the duo about $1,300 in 2016. Hardaway and Richardson claimed they were reimbursed for flight costs for speaking at a Trump event.