Tech firms to testify on extremist content

Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube officials are returning to the nation’s capital next week to discuss how they’re combating extremist content online.

Representatives from the tech firms are scheduled to testify Jan. 17 before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation about the topic.

The hearing, which is titled “Terrorism and Social Media: #IsBigTechDoingEnough?” comes months after the companies’ lawyers were grilled by lawmakers about ads purchased by Russians during the U.S. presidential election in 2016.

Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg vowed to focus this year on fixing some of the problems plaguing the social media site, such as abuse, hate speech and interference from nations.

In September, Twitter reported that it suspended 299,649 accounts for promoting terrorism from January to June 2017.

Lawmakers, though, won’t be questioning the companies’ CEOs.

Monika Bickert, Facebook’s head of global policy management; Juniper Downs, YouTube’s global head of public policy and government relations; and Carlos Monje, Twitter’s director of public policy and philanthropy, are scheduled to attend the hearing.

It starts at 10 a.m. and will be streamed online at www.commerce.senate.gov.