Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Jack Dorsey (Twitter), and Sundar Pichai (Google) will testify before Congress on October 28, exactly less than a week before the US presidential election.
Earlier this month, the Senate Commerce committee subpoenaed the tech bosses to witness the projected on Section 230 of the 1996's Communications Decency Act.
"Section 230 deserves a serious thoughtful discussion," Sen. Maria Cantwell said, as reported by CNET.
The senator also said the hearing should not be used to attempt to have a chilling effect on social media platforms taking down false COVID information or hate speech.
The hearing, entitled "Does Section 230's Sweeping Immunity Enable Big Tech Bad Behavior?," will be live-streamed for the public at 10:00 AM. The CEOs will be questioned about how content moderation works on their platforms less than a week before the United States Presidential Election.
To participate in the live stream, head over this link or visit the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation official website.
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What's 'Section 230'?
Section 230 shields social media companies, such as Facebook & Twitter, from both Democrat & Republican parties' lawsuits over the platforms' users' posts.
Since the start of the presidential campaign, both parties have been going at each other. Twitter controversially labeled Donald Trump's tweet as "potentially misleading" back in May.
The US President ended up signing an executive order aiming at platforms like Twitter and Facebook. The president believes the claim is a bias and a threat to freedom itself.
As Twitter confirmed earlier this month, Jack Dorsey has voluntarily agreed to testify before Congress to 'protect elections.' Zuckerberg has confirmed his appearance, but Google denied to give an immediate response to the request.
"This EO is a reactionary and politicized approach to a landmark law," a Twitter spokesperson said in a tweet. "#Section230 protects American innovation and freedom of expression, and it's underpinned by democratic values," the statement added.
"Attempts to unilaterally erode it threaten the future of online speech and Internet freedoms," the tweet ends.
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When Will the US Election Start & How Does It Work?
The United States presidential election will begin on November 3, 2020. The current president of the US, Donald Trump from the Republican Party, will go head-to-head against Democratic's Joe Biden. Each candidate will be supported by Mike Pence & Kamala Haris, respectively.
Independently-backed Kanye West and Michelle Tidball are set to be the third candidates to enter the race. Although it doesn't always happen, it's interesting to see how the rapper and the Christian preacher would go toe-to-toe against American political moguls.
The winners of the election will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
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