US lawmakers on Friday, March 26, Philippine time, appeared far less patient in yet another grilling of Big Tech executives – the first since the US Capitol siege on January 6.
“Do you know the difference between yes or no?” asked Rep. Billy Long. “We don’t do filibusters in the House. That’s something that’s done in the Senate,” Rep. Anna G. Eshoo told the executives, as Google CEO Sundar Pichai began to explain whether the company would amend YouTube’s recommendation engine that served users content similar to what they’ve already consumed.
She said they are planning a bill that would ban this type of user data-fueled surveillance advertising. Castor also said that they enjoy an “outdated liability shield” – Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 which protects platform owners from liabilities caused by content posted by platform users – that only incentivizes them to take “half-measures” while they make billions, and harm truth and democracy.
Reminder the discussions that led to the Capitol assault happened mostly on Facebook. Big Tech just scapegoated Parler because it was a rightwing rival.