Oct 20, 2020 - Technology

Senate panel will vote to OK subpoenas for Dorsey, Zuckerberg

Ashley Gold

A photo of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg — Photo: Graeme Jennings/Pool via Getty Images

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Thursday to authorize subpoenas that would compel Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify about their platforms limiting the reach of a New York Post article on Hunter Biden.

Why it matters: Republicans are ratcheting up pressure on tech platforms over allegations of anti-conservative bias, which have reached a fever pitch following the incident with the Biden article, based on documents supplied by Rudy Giuliani.

Yes, but: Thursday's vote doesn't necessarily means Zuckerberg and Dorsey will actually get subpoenaed. The committee said it is still working with Twitter and Facebook to nail down times for voluntary testimony.

Neither Facebook nor Twitter had comment.

Of note: Dorsey, Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai are already slated to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on similar topics related to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and content moderation.

Senate Commerce authorized subpoenas for tech CEOs before nailing down voluntary testimony, rendering the subpoena unnecessary.

Context: Republicans are accusing the companies of censorship and trying to suppress the material to benefit Biden.

Twitter later backtracked and changed its rules around hacked material.

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Senate panel will vote to OK subpoenas for Dorsey, Zuckerberg

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