'They are guilty of the taking of the Capitol, yes or no?': The question that dislodged the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter and Google

03/25/2021 2:49 PM

• Clarín.com

• Technology

Updated 03/25/2021 3:11 PM

"When I ask a 'yes-no' question I am looking for a 'yes' or a 'no',

so please answer appropriately

."

The slogan sounded like a school test, but it was addressed to three of the richest and most powerful people in the world: Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai, CEOs of Facebook, Twitter and Google

.

And the only one who responded to the slogan was the person in charge of Twitter.

The member of the House of Representatives Michael Doyle fired the question during the hearing in which the three companies have to explain the

disinformation and hate speech, which are

increasingly frequent on social networks.

Zuckerberg evaded the question.

But Doyle did not let it pass him and counterattacked: "He is not answering, yes or no," he insisted.

The Facebook founder insisted that his company's responsibility is to

"build effective systems,"

but could not develop his argument.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, during the hearing.

Photo Bloomberg

Google's Pichai

also responded evasively.

It was Jack Dorsey from Twitter who not only responded but also expressed an idea with which Doyle agreed: "

Yes [we are responsible],

we have to take broader considerations, it is not just a question of the technology platforms we use."

"Thanks, I agree with that," Doyle closed.

The session started very "choppy".

Different congressmen pointed out the responsibilities of social networks in hate speech, misinformation and even cases of grooming and the little security that there is online for minors.

Another hot spot was discussions of

coronavirus

vaccine

news

.

The conductor of the hearing used the same type of question: he asked them to answer yes or no.

"

Do you think they are effective?

"Asked Doyle, to an almost unanimous response from CEOs who noted that the question had nothing to do with the audience, even though they all answered affirmatively.

The question was in relation to the immense amount of posts with disinformation on these social networks.

The question comes a week after both Facebook and Instagram announced new measures to combat misinformation regarding Covid vaccination, as the company acknowledged that misinformation was out of control.

In fact, Facebook even partnered with Children's Hospital Boston, in the United States, to help people identify nearby places to get vaccinated, including hours of operation, contact information and links to make an appointment to get vaccinated.

Section 230, key to the audience

Mark Zuckerberg had an awkward moment.

Photo Bloomberg

The CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter testify this Thursday before the United States Congress on the disinformation, following a tense elections in the United States, the assault on the Capitol and the rise of Joe Biden to the presidency.

With a clear focus: to defend, once again,

section 230 of an administration that seems determined to fight them.

The hearing, titled “Nation of Disinformation: The Role of Social Media in Promoting

Extremism and Disinformation,

” is held remotely.

It will be the fourth for Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter's Jack Dorsey since last July, and the third for Google's Sundar Pichai.

This law was created in 1996 and regulates and protects internet companies from legal responsibilities: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service should be treated as the publisher or issuer of any information from another provider of informational content", it says the law.

The three companies, at the center of the controversy.

AP Photo

This gives Big Tech two advantages: First, it exempts them from what users post on their platforms.

For example, if anti-Semitic or racist content is posted, the law states that the company

is not responsible for that content.

But it also gives them the freedom to unsubscribe content: this is what is being demanded of them.

A greater intervention in what is raised,

so that anarchy does not reign.

The session thus put the Big Tech on the ropes, from which for this time the company founded by Jeff Bezos, Amazon, got away.

The audience, live

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