Letter to Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet, Inc., Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, and Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter - Pallone Requests Briefing from Google, Facebook, and Twitter on Content Management Policies

Letter

Dear Mr. Page, Mr. Zuckerberg, and Mr. Dorsey:

I am writing to better understand your policies for managing content and advertising on your platform. The influence of the internet over our national dialogue and our lives has skyrocketed over the past decade. At the same time, the number of websites handling this traffic has consolidated to a handful of key platforms. The combination of these trends have led to these few companies taking on a quasi-governmental role policing content, and therefore a large amount of communication, on the internet.

Despite these companies having taken over this important policymaking role, their objective is monetizing web traffic, not public policy. With a goal of ad clicks or driving page views, these companies' policies are not neutral; they actively shape content on the web. And to the extent that these companies' platforms have publicly available policies for moderating content, those policies are vague and applied inconsistently. This lack of transparency makes it difficult for consumers to understand how content is controlled and for the government to oversee the market. Ultimately, algorithms and employees become the arbiters of what is acceptable content in the public forum without transparent guidelines. The result of these dynamics can often be absurd:

One website justifiably bans certain terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida, the Taliban and Boko Haram, but permits Holocaust denial and white supremacist sites.

Some websites have refused to act on individual reports of threatening and harassing behavior. But those same sites do remove the posts and suspend accounts of the offenders when those same posts are raised by reporters or politicians.

In some cases, posts from sexual assault victims raising awareness of sexual assault have been removed by moderators and the victims' accounts have been suspended. At the same time, posts threatening sexual assault against users are permitted.

One website trains moderators to protect white men from harassment, but not African American children.

In another case, a platform's CEO admitted to using his administrative powers to secretly edit users' comments that were critical of him.

Junk news, misleading advertising, and other disinformation is running rampant on the major platforms. False and deceptive content are part of a widespread Russian operation designed to use major platforms to sway our elections and undermine our democracy. But it also seems to come from individuals who are trying to game your content policies to make money from advertising through increased traffic to their sites.

Your platforms have taken on a role of policing content but your practices for doing so are not clear. I therefore request a briefing with Committee staff on your platforms' policies for moderating content and advertising and the implementation of those policies. Please be prepared to discuss:

How did you develop your policies for user content?

How do you enforce violations of your policies? What quality control measures do you employ to ensure consistency in policing these policies?

How do you ensure that users are aware of the policies both before content is posted and after content has been removed?

What safeguards do you have in place to prevent creators of fabricated content from gaming your algorithms to promote their stories?

What processes do you have in place to provide appeals of your decisions? What remedies are provided for users who have been harmed by incorrect decisions to promote or take down content?
Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Frank Pallone, Jr.

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