CEOs of Google, Facebook and Twitter to testify before Senate

The CEOs of Google, Facebook and Twitter are set to testify before the Senate later this month, spokespeople for the companies confirmed to The Hill on Monday.

The appearance before the Senate Commerce Committee will be the second time that top tech executives appear before Congress this year, following this summer’s major hearing before a House antitrust subcommittee.

Google’s Sundar Pichai, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey will appear before the powerful Senate committee on Oct. 28, just days before the general election.

The hearing set to focus on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which is considered the bedrock of the modern internet.

The 1996 law, which has come under increased scrutiny since President Trump targeted it in an executive order in May, gives internet companies immunity from lawsuits for content posted on their sites by third parties and allows them to make “good faith” efforts to moderate content.

The threat of having that protection revoked has increasingly been proposed as a cudgel to compel platforms to make changes by lawmakers, especially ones on the right.

The hearing, which will also address data privacy and media consolidation, comes after Democrats initially resisted efforts to subpoena the CEOs.

The Commerce Committee voted unanimously to authorize subpoenas for the three executives last week. All three CEOS agreed to testify voluntarily.