Google Holds Firm as Meta Continues to Apologize to Republicans in Moderation Hearing

During a Senate hearing on Wednesday, a Meta executive expressed remorse to Republican lawmakers for not speaking out more against the Biden administration’s requests to remove health and election misinformation, including satire. In contrast, Google remained steadfast in its position, stating that evaluating and often rejecting government content requests is part of its normal business operations.

Meta’s VP of public policy, Neil Potts, acknowledged the company’s responsibility for its content moderation decisions but admitted regret for not openly pushing back against the Democratic administration’s pressure. He emphasized, “We believe the government pressure was wrong and wish we had been more outspoken about it.”

One significant incident highlighted during the hearing was Meta’s removal of a Facebook page tracking Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions following “outreach” from the Department of Justice. The extent to which Meta felt pressured in this instance was not explored during the hearing.

Google’s VP of government affairs and public policy, Markham Erickson, presented a different perspective from Meta. He mentioned that Google routinely receives requests from governments worldwide to remove certain content and sometimes declines, including in response to requests from the Biden administration.

The hearing underscored the divergent approaches of tech companies to political pressure. While Meta made significant changes to its fact-checking policies earlier this year, Google took steps to criticize the Biden administration’s content moderation demands, labeling them as “wrong and unacceptable.”

Senator Ted Cruz, aiming to garner bipartisan support, discussed a new anti-jawboning bill during the hearing. The legislation seeks to provide transparency into government officials’ communications with tech companies and allow individuals who believe they have been wrongly censored to seek damages.

Despite Democrats’ focus on allegations of censorship against the Trump administration, Republicans, led by Cruz, highlighted past incidents that had been previously litigated. Democrats argued that the Trump administration’s actions against free speech rights were more severe than those of the Biden administration.

Senator Ed Markey raised concerns about President Trump’s threats to free speech, including his call to imprison Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his push for the Justice Department to criminally prosecute Google. Markey questioned Potts and Erickson on whether President Biden or his officials had made similar threats, to which they were unaware.

Senator Cruz strongly criticized FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s comments regarding a recent incident involving comedian Jimmy Kimmel, while Democrats urged for Carr’s presence at the hearing. The focus shifted to the absence of Carr and the need for the right witnesses to address government censorship issues effectively.

Cruz emphasized the importance of Carr testifying before the committee to oversee the agency effectively. The upcoming hearing involving Carr could be a crucial test of bipartisan action against government censorship.