Joan Donovan, research director of Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, will be one of the experts to testify. DiResta said she expects Democrats to ask “about how algorithmic nudges are polarizing and/or radicalizing users, amplifying health misinformation, amplifying conspiracy theory communities.” Republicans, she said, will likely ask “whether anti-conservative bias is built into moderation tools, or algorithms involved in the determination to down-rank content.” So what can we expect to actually see at the hearing? Renée DiResta of the Stanford Internet Observatory said its likely we’ll - once again - see a divide between what Democrats and Republicans ask. Sasse and I agreed that it was critical to hear from YouTube directly given the platform’s enormous influence in shaping opinions and beliefs around the world.” “While representatives from Google testify frequently before Congress, Sen. “YouTube has approximately two billion users worldwide, and 70% of what those users watch comes from YouTube’s recommendation algorithm,” Coons told me. But on Tuesday, the company’s director of gov’t affairs and public policy, Alexandra Veitch, will find herself in the hot seat. Usually, lawmakers call Google and its CEO Sundar Picahi to testify, allowing YouTube to avoid the scrutiny it might receive if it were present itself. Bringing in policy people could make for more constructive debate.”Īnother unique aspect about Tuesday’s hearing: YouTube is finally testifying before a congressional committee. “That’s great for fundraising but generally terrible for advancing the conversation. “Congress has shown that when CEOs are in the hot seat, members can’t resist dunking on them,” Casey Newton, who writes the Platformer newsletter covering tech, told me. While that means the hearing will carry less buzz, it’s possible it could lead to a more substantive conversation as the temptation for gotcha moments will be diminished. Instead, the companies are sending their heads of policy to answer questions. “These algorithms impact what billions of people read, watch, and think every single day, and it’s critical that Congress and the American public understand how they work and how we can curb the amplification of misinformation and political polarization.”Ī second aspect that will differentiate Tuesday’s hearing from others: none of the big CEOs will be in attendance. Chris Coons, who is chairing the hearing, told me Monday. “Nearly all social media platforms – including the three companies represented at Tuesday’s hearing – use algorithms to curate what their users see and when they see it,” Sen. The hearing is entirely focused on social media algorithms. ![]() That’s what makes Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary hearing with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube different. ![]() What doesn’t quite get as much attention are the engines that drive these platforms: their algorithms. Usually, when social media executives are brought to testify in front of Congress, the hearings are centered on specific policies and types of content, misinfo and foreign interference, antitrust issues, and privacy concerns. A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter.
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