Facebook, Google and Twitter CEOs agree to testify about misinformation

The CEOs of Facebook, Twitter and Google will soon make another appearance in front of Congress. Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai have agreed to testify at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on March 25. The hearing will cover “misinformation and disinformation plaguing online platforms,” including the companies' handling of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and the 2020 election.

“Whether it be falsehoods about the COVID-19 vaccine or debunked claims of election fraud, these online platforms have allowed misinformation to spread, intensifying national crises with real-life, grim consequences for public health and safety,” the committee chairs wrote in a statement. “This hearing will continue the Committee’s work of holding online platforms accountable for the growing rise of misinformation and disinformation. For far too long, big tech has failed to acknowledge the role they’ve played in fomenting and elevating blatantly false information to its online audiences. Industry self-regulation has failed. We must begin the work of changing incentives driving social media companies to allow and even promote misinformation and disinformation.”