Facebook, Twitter get lashing on Capitol Hill — and brownie points for showing up

At a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing, senators had no shortage of complaints for Facebook and Twitter. They decried the platforms’ vulnerability to foreign influence, their arcane handling of user data, and the perception that they buried conservative voices. Congress wanted to send a signal that Silicon Valley would no longer get a free pass — and that the laissez faire environment that has allowed them to reap billions in profits despite the vitriolic culture that social media has engendered was not guaranteed to last. 

The committee had invited Larry Page, chief executive of Google’s parent company, Alphabet. But Google declined and countered by offering to send its chief legal officer, Kent Walker. The committee rejected Page’s replacement and Google submitted written testimony instead that focused on security measures. Members of the committee wanted to ask about reports that Google was working on a censored search engine for China. The company has also been criticized for its handling of YouTube, which has also been exploited for foreign propaganda. Google’s absence comes at a time when social media titans such as Facebook and Twitter are trying to be on their best behavior.