*By Carlo Versano*
Well, that happened.
Far-right conspiracy theorist and verbal bomb-thrower Alex Jones crashed both the Senate and House hearings on big tech Wednesday, commandeering media attention and at one point nearly getting into an altercation with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
Jones told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin that he was there to "face my accusers." Jones, who founded the conspiracy site InfoWars, was booted off Facebook and YouTube for peddling hate speech, though he remains active on Twitter.
His comments to Cheddar came on a marathon day for big tech on Capitol Hill. Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter's founder and CEO Jack Dorsey addressed the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday morning, and Dorsey testified for the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the afternoon. Both sessions were meant to discuss how the respective platforms can better protect billions of users against fake news, propaganda, harassment, and hate speech.
Both executives said they were taking specific steps to address the spread of misinformation. For example, Facebook now demotes articles rated as "false" by third-party fact checkers, warns users before they share such posts, and promotes related articles that are deemed more accurate, Sandberg said.
Still, they admitted their efforts came too late.
"We were too slow to spot this and too slow to act," Sandberg said during the Senate hearing, addressing Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
And Dorsey said Twitter was "unprepared and ill-equipped" to defend users against nefarious actors that have gamed the platform's services.
Investors were seemingly unimpressed by the execs' statements ー shares of Facebook, Twitter, and Dorsey's other company Square were all down along with the broader social media and tech space Wednesday.
Dorsey and Sandberg agreed that fake accounts are the root of many of their problems. Both platforms, the executives said, are now proactively shutting down millions of accounts a week. Sandberg also added that Facebook employs 20,000 security and safety personnel who work 24 hours a day.
The Senate hearing got off to a collegial start, as Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Mark Warner (D-VA) expressed their appreciation for the steps Facebook and Twitter have taken to regain control of their platforms. Though Burr added, "I'm not sure your success is the big story here."
Two of Silicon Valley's most respected execs sitting side-by-side on Capitol Hill was a potent visual ー even more so because of who was absent. The committee rejected Google's offer to send its chief legal counsel, and neither the company nor its parent Alphabet sent their CEOs or chairmen.
Instead, an empty chair joined Sandberg and Dorsey on the dais.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to block states from regulating artificial intelligence. He argues that heavy regulations could stifle the industry, especially given competition from China. Trump says the U.S. needs a unified approach to AI regulation to avoid complications from state-by-state rules. The order directs the administration to draw up a list of problematic regulations for the Attorney General to challenge. States with laws could lose access to broadband funding, according to the text of the order. Some states have already passed AI laws focusing on transparency and limiting data collection.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
The two-sentence footnote raised serious concerns about accuracy and credibility.
