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June 25, 2019

TOMORROW: Committee to Hold Hearing with Social Media Company Executives on Terrorist Content and Misinformation

(WASHINGTON) – Tomorrow, the Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing with high-ranking executives from Facebook, Twitter, and Google to examine the companies’ efforts to counter online terrorist content and misinformation.

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, released the following statement on tomorrow’s hearing:

“As social media becomes more ubiquitous in our daily lives, tech companies have an obligation to ensure their platforms aren’t being misused to endanger Americans or threaten our democracy. Unfortunately, time and time again, these social media companies have shown they are not up to the task. Tomorrow’s hearing will be an important step forward in our discussions of how we can work together to safeguard social media platforms – both from terrorists spreading their hateful messages as well as other bad actors spreading misinformation to sow confusion and discord.”

After the deadly white-nationalist terror attack on two New Zealand mosques, and the shooter’s concurrent live-stream of the attack, Chairman Thompson wrote to the CEOs of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Microsoft to request a briefing on their companies’ efforts to prevent the dissemination of this type of violent content moving forward. At the briefing, the companies were unable to answer questions about resource allocation dedicated to these efforts. After several follow-up requests, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook have failed to publicly disclose all of the requested information.

WHAT:

Full Committee Hearing: Examining Social Media Companies' Efforts to Counter Online Terror Content and Misinformation 

WITNESSES:

  • Ms. Monika Bickert, Head of Global Policy Management, Facebook
  • Mr. Nick Pickles, Global Senior Strategist for Public Policy, Twitter
  • Mr. Derek Slater, Global Director of Information Policy, Google
  • Ms. Nadine Strossen, John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law, New York Law School

WHEN:

Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 26

10:00 AM

WHERE:

310 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

MEDIA:

Open Press

The hearing will be live-streamed. 

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Press Contact

Media contact: Adam Comis at 202-225-9978