LIVE: U.S. Senate hearing with Facebook, Twitter on foreign influence in social media

Watch the livestream of the US Senate’s open hearing with tech executives Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, and Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, here, Wednesday, September 5, 9:30 pm, Philippine time. 

The hearing, titled “Foreign Influence Operations’ Use of Social Media Platforms,” will focus on Russian interference in US elections through social media. The US has an upcoming election in November, and the Senate is looking to take stock of how the two social media giants have dealt with the problem since last year’s revelation, and what the continuing impact might be in upcoming elections. 

Google was also invited, but it appears the hearing will go on without the other tech giant, with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s hearing page confirming just the two attendees from Facebook and Twitter. 

Other issues such as hate speech, censorship, data privacy, and political ads on the platform may also be in the agenda. 

The US House of Representatives’ committee on energy and commerce will also have a hearing after this one, with Jack Dorsey being the primary attendee. The hearing is called “Twitter: Transparency and Accountability” and happens Thursday, September 6, 1:30 am. 

Part 1

Get up to speed further with our  feature stories here: 

• Facebook, Twitter, Google are in the U.S. congress hot seat again. Here’s why.
• What to expect: Twitter CEO’s testimony on transparency, accountability
• Expert opinions: the September 5 Facebook-Twitter-Google hearing

– Rappler.com