Topline
As Republicans sought to prove bias in the content moderation policies of tech’s biggest players during a Wednesday hearing before Congress, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) pressed the heads of Facebook, Twitter and Google on the political leanings of their employees.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies remotely during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation ... [+]
Key Facts
Johnson, saying in his opinion it’s “pretty obvious” how these companies are skewed based on “reports” about chat forums that alienate conservative employees, asked the tech leaders to comment on just how liberal their staff are.
“Would you say that the political ideology of the employees at your companies is 50:50,” asked Johnson, “or do you think it’s closer to 90% liberal and 10% conservative?”
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey responded that he does not know: “It’s not something we ask … It’s not something we look for.”
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said his company makes “an effort to make sure people of all viewpoints are welcome,” and noted Google’s 400,000 employees range across the entire political spectrum.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave the only answer Johnson liked, saying “I would guess that our employee base skews left-leaning.”
Crucial Quote
“Thank you for that honesty,” said Johnson, quickly pivoting back to Dorsey, who has received disproportionate attention during the hearing from Republican senators, to say: “We don’t trust you.”
Surprising Fact
In private companies, a person’s political position is not a protected status. However, public employees are generally protected by state and federal constitutional provisions, including the First Amendment and the Fourth Amendment.
Key Background
Debate at Wednesday’s hearing, called for by Republican senators after both Twitter and Facebook flagged and limited circulation of a New York Post story waging unverified allegations against Hunter Biden, centered around whether tech platforms are unjustly “censoring” conservative viewpoints. Several Republican senators pressed the tech trio to name a single Democrat whose tweets or Facebook posts they’ve flagged, pointing to the fact that President Trump’s tweets have been contextualized for misinformation dozens of times. Dorsey, Zuckerberg and Pichai insisted that they are just following their policies, which do not take into account political affiliation, and if Democratic nominee Joe Biden tweeted claims like the president does, they would react the same way.
