Zuckerberg, Dorsey face Senate subpoenas
The U. S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to authorize subpoenas for Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey to compel testimony over their companies' handling of a controversial New York Post article about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's son.
Republicans are ratcheting up pressure on Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies over their perceived bias ahead of the presidential election Nov. 3.
The executives, who have been called to Washington before to explain their content policies, are also due to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee on Oct. 28, along with Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai, to discuss their protection from legal liability for user content under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Conservatives say the law enables the companies to silence their views and content.
The executives can still appear voluntarily, but the committee has said it will compel testimony if they don't. A hearing date hasn't been announced. Representatives for Facebook and Twitter declined to comment.
The vote to authorize subpoenas came as Democrats boycotted the panel's meeting, when it moved forward Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to sit on the Supreme Court.
GOP senators sought to bring in the CEOS after their companies moved to curb the spread of a Post story on Biden's son Hunter and his alleged exchanges with a Ukrainian executive.
The story said emails purportedly from Hunter Biden, and provided by allies of the president, show he introduced an executive at a Ukrainian energy firm to his father when he was vice president. The details of the Post story haven't been independently confirmed by Bloomberg News.
The companies took measures to reduce distribution of the link, citing policies that prohibit the posting of hacked or leaked materials. Twitter, which has faced a backlash from Republicans, including President Donald Trump, has since reversed its decision and is allowing the article to be linked.
Facebook has warned that the U.S.'S foreign adversaries, including Russia, may seek to trick journalists into amplifying hacked or inaccurate content they want to spread ahead of an election.