This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/live/2018/sep/05/facebook-sheryl-sandberg-twitter-congress-russia

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 8 Version 9
Twitter's Jack Dorsey faces more questions as Google snubs Congress – live Twitter's Jack Dorsey faces more questions as Google snubs Congress – live
(35 minutes later)
Buchshon asks about the diversity of the workforce.
Dorsey says that Twitter recognizes that it needs to decentralize out of San Francisco, mentioning how expensive it is. He says he’s excited to be a more “distributed” company.
Larry Bucshon asks if the algorithms are publicly available to be reviewed for bias.
Dorsey: Not today, but says he’s open to more transparency.
Long is now discussing the tweets that get sent to him by email from Twitter. He was sent “highlights” emails of tweets, and he is reading the names of the accounts whose tweets are included. They are mostly political reporters.
I think the implication here is that there aren’t enough Republicans included.
“They’re all pretty much Trump bashing,” he says.
Dorsey: It doesn’t sound like we served you well in matching your interests.
Billy Long of Missouri is praising Dorsey for his mannerisms and comportment. So that’s nice.
Paul Tonko is criticizing Twitter’s election advertising system in comparison to Facebook’s. Dorsey says that it’s a work in progress.
Bill Johnson of Ohio is talking about algorithms as being like art. Do you do peer reviews of algorithms?
Dorsey: Yes.
Johnson: Can’t you modify your algorithms to be more intelligent on alerting certain things? Is it unreasonable to think that Twitter could not modify its algorithms to hit on illegal drug sales?
Dorsey: Not unreasonable at all, it’s just a matter of work.
Debbie Dingell asks about the datasets that are used to train Twitter’s AI and what kind of explainability its algorithms have.
Dorsey seems kind of excited to get some different questions, but he doesn’t directly answer them.
Gus Bilirakis is raising concerns about school threats on Twitter. It is a bit rich that a pro-gun Floridian congressman with an “A” rating from the NRA would be raising the issue of school safety with a social media company, but here we are.
Scott Peters of California says that Twitter has “democratized democracy” which makes about as much sense as most of the other comments in this hearing, which is heading toward its third hour.Scott Peters of California says that Twitter has “democratized democracy” which makes about as much sense as most of the other comments in this hearing, which is heading toward its third hour.
Morgan Griffith of Virginia also wants to talk about drug sales on social media.Morgan Griffith of Virginia also wants to talk about drug sales on social media.
Dorsey says that the company is really focusing on foreign interference in elections.Dorsey says that the company is really focusing on foreign interference in elections.
Tony Cardenas also wants to talk about online bullying. He mentions Melania Trump’s campaign against cyberbullying, and takes a shot at Donald Trump.Tony Cardenas also wants to talk about online bullying. He mentions Melania Trump’s campaign against cyberbullying, and takes a shot at Donald Trump.
As with most of the issues here, however, Twitter is certainly not the most important platform to talk about cyberbullying with.As with most of the issues here, however, Twitter is certainly not the most important platform to talk about cyberbullying with.
According to Pew, US teenagers are vastly more likely to be using YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.According to Pew, US teenagers are vastly more likely to be using YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.
A lot of Democrats are trying to bait Dorsey into calling out the Republicans for bad faith, but he’s not biting.A lot of Democrats are trying to bait Dorsey into calling out the Republicans for bad faith, but he’s not biting.
Joe Kennedy: Why do you outsource reporting abuse to users?Joe Kennedy: Why do you outsource reporting abuse to users?
Dorsey: Well, we don’t feel great about it.Dorsey: Well, we don’t feel great about it.
David Loebsack of Iowa wants to talk about the use of social media by teenagers and concerns about harassment and cyberbullying. He asks if they are making any changes for young users.David Loebsack of Iowa wants to talk about the use of social media by teenagers and concerns about harassment and cyberbullying. He asks if they are making any changes for young users.
David McKinley of West Virginia is asking whether Twitter takes responsibility for the opioid crisis, referencing a study showing illegal drug ads. He references an ad for cocaine that went up in the last hour.David McKinley of West Virginia is asking whether Twitter takes responsibility for the opioid crisis, referencing a study showing illegal drug ads. He references an ad for cocaine that went up in the last hour.
“I would be ashamed if I were you,” he says.“I would be ashamed if I were you,” he says.
Lujan is now pointing out that Congress hasn’t actually passed any laws relating to Russian interference, Cambridge Analytica, or the Equifax breach and that this hearing might be a bit of a waste of time.Lujan is now pointing out that Congress hasn’t actually passed any laws relating to Russian interference, Cambridge Analytica, or the Equifax breach and that this hearing might be a bit of a waste of time.
Ben Lujan: During the purge of bots, who lost more followers, Trump or Obama?
Dorsey: I don’t know.
Lujan is jocularly asking whether there is a conspiracy against Obama because he lost more bot followers than Trump.
Dorsey is just playing it straight.
Olson asks if Twitter prioritizes emergency outreach, referencing Hurricane Harvey.
Dorsey says that Twitter does prioritize emergency response, says that when 911 failed, people were able to use Twitter to ask for rescue.
Pete Olson of Texas is asking about the political bias of the Trust and Safety council.
Dorsey points out that the council is just advisory.
Peter Welch of Vermont complains about having a hearing to deal with Trump’s specious allegations of anti-conservative bias.
Welch moves on to questions of privacy, hate speech, and abuse: Bottom line, do you believe that this should be something that should be decided company by company, or should we have rules of the road that are moderated by elected officials?
Dorsey: We don’t want to compete on this. Independent of what the government things we should do, we are going to continue to do this work, and share our approach. This is not an area for us to compete.
Part of what is frustrating about this hearing is that the constant refrain from Republicans about anti-conservative bias simply muddies the water about real algorithmic bias.
And we’re back. Next up is Leonard Lance, who again wants to discuss the Meghan McCain tweet.
Lance: I think it’s the unanimous view of this committee is that 5 hours is intolerable.
We’re on a five minute recess.
One of the silly things about this hearing is that, in order to show that they are focused on “serious” issues instead of the imaginary shadowbanning problem that the Republicans are harping on, Democrats keep bringing up serious issues that aren’t actually that serious on Twitter, like data privacy, discriminatory advertising or foreign interference in elections.
Those are certainly important issues, but they are primarily issues with Facebook, which was not asked to appear at this hearing. Twitter is a comparatively tiny platform (300m users versus more than 2 billion) that holds an outsize importance in the minds of politicians and journalists. And the platform’s problems are much different – and arguably less insidious – than those of Facebook.
Gregg Harper also wants to talk about the number of Republican and the number of Democrats who were “shadowbanned”.
I wrote about the particular blindness that affects American politicians who insist on thinking that tech algorithms are biased in partisan ways here.
Sarbones says he will submit questions for Dorsey in writing while he uses his time to discuss Republican intransigence about investigating the Trump administration.