Facebook, Twitter CEOs to testify before Senate Judiciary Committee on Nov. 17

The Senate Judiciary Committee announced Friday that it will hear testimony from the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter on Nov. 17 over their platforms’ work to limit the spread of a controversial article about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the panel’s chairman, said in a statement the hearing with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey will focus on the “platforms’ censorship and suppression” of the unconfirmed articles from The New York Post and “provide a valuable opportunity to review the companies’ handling of the 2020 election.” 

The Judiciary Committee first voted by a 12-0 margin Thursday to subpoena both Zuckerberg and Dorsey. Democrats on the committee had boycotted the hearing over the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

Both executives, along with Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, will also testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday for a hearing on content moderation, data privacy and media consolidation. 

Their appearance before the judiciary panel comes as Republicans seize on a controversial article in the New York Post suggesting Hunter Biden looked to arrange a meeting between a Ukrainian businessman and his father when he was vice president. The claims were based on details on a laptop obtained by former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, a close ally of President Trump who experts say has spread disinformation. 

Facebook and Twitter have moved to restrict the spread of the article, which other major news outlets have not confirmed. Facebook limited how users can link to the article amid questions over its validity, while Twitter blocked users from posting links to the Post story or photos from it.

Republicans have seized on the report to suggest the former vice president is corrupt and gone after the social media platforms for what they say is a suppression of conservative voices online. Lawmakers at the hearing are expected to attack Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the law that shields companies from legal liability over what’s posted on their platforms.