Tech CEOs Unify Democrats and Republicans Behind Call to Regulate Their Companies
26 March 2021 - 9:33AM
Dow Jones News
By John D. McKinnon
Thursday's hearing showed that regulating social-media platforms
has emerged as a surprisingly bipartisan issue in the current
Congress. That's a big change from the past.
"This panel has done something truly rare in Washington these
days -- it's united Democrats and Republicans," Rep. Angie Craig
(D., Minn.) told the executives toward the end of the hearing,
which ran more than five hours. "Your industry cannot be trusted to
regulate itself."
Republicans and Democrats were particularly unified on the need
to regulate how children are treated online.
Democrats were also focused on reducing the incentives that the
platforms have for promoting attention-grabbing content including
disinformation and misinformation, and Republicans also raised
similar concerns about addiction and related issues.
Both sides said reforming Section 230, a federal law that gives
social-media platforms sweeping legal protections, has become a top
priority.
Still, the hearing underscored again some of the difficulties
that will make passing major legislation a difficult task. Even if
political obstacles are diminishing, practical and legal hurdles
remain.
"I hope you can take away from this hearing how serious we are
on both sides of the aisle," said Rep. Mike Doyle (D., Pa.), the
communications and technology subcommittee chairman.
This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event.
The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live
Coverage).
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 25, 2021 18:18 ET (22:18 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024
Real-Time news about Twitter Inc (New York Stock Exchange): 0 recent articles
More Twitter Inc News Articles