Senate hearing - live: Zuckerberg defends keeping Bannon on Facebook after saying Fauci should be beheaded

Facebook and Twitter bosses attacked by Senator for acting ‘invincible’

Senator Marsha Blackburn attacked Facebook and Twitter’s CEOs for acting “invincible” and for their staff acting “like the invincible gods of Silicon Valley.”

Ms Blackburn told the tech bosses that Americans has “great frustrations” with the firms and that Congress would act against them to hold them accountable.

She then asked Mr Zuckerberg if Facebook censored users accounts at the behest of foreign governments such as Vietnam, Turkey and Russia.

“We do not have a policy but we follow local laws in the countries we operate,” said Mr Zuckerberg.

“In general we try to comply with the laws in every country we operate and do business.”

Barack Obama has said that social media companies are making “editorial choices” and that governments need to find adequate regulation to address how they spread “crazy lies and conspiracy theories.”

The former president commented on the debate, which has been a focus for the Trump administration both before and during the pandemic, in an interview with The Atlantic.

Mr Obama continued to say that while he did not “hold the tech companies entirely responsible, because this predates social media”, that these large corporations have “turbocharged” the ability to spread conspiracy theories.

“If we do not have the capacity to distinguish what’s true from what’s false, then by definition the marketplace of ideas doesn’t work. And by definition our democracy doesn’t work. We are entering into an epistemological crisis” he continued.

Adam Smith reports.

Zuckerberg says it treats Trump like any other user

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg told Senator Mazie Hirono that his company held Donald Trump to the same standards as any other user.

“In terms of President Trump and moving forward, there are a small number of policies where we have exceptions for politicians under the principle people should hear what their elected officials are saying,” said Mr Zuckerberg.

"But the vast majority of our policies have no newsworthiness exceptions.

“So if the president or anyone else is spreading hate speech or violence or posting content that delegitimises the election or valid forms of voting those will receive the same treatment as anyone else saying those things and that will continue to be the case.”

Donald Trump will be treated like any other Twitter user after presidency

Twitter boss Jack Dorsey told Senator Mazie Hirono that Mr Trump would receive no special treatment from the firm once he leaves the White House.

Mr Dorsey said Twitter allowed global leaders extra leeway with their tweets even if they violated the company’s terms of service.

The tech CEO said that Twitter did not take down such tweets but slowed down the ability for them to be shared on the platform.

And he confirmed Mr Trump would not enjoy that privilege once he leaves office.

“So if an account is suddenly not a world leader any more then that particular policy goes away,” said Mr Dorsey.

Senator Durbin feels there are more important things that the committee should be addressing.

Mr Zuckerberg says that Facebook should not be the arbiter of truth and therefore works with independent fact-checkers to assess what should be classified as true or not.

Asked by Senator Joni Ernst if hiring practices could address internal political bias, Mr Zuckerberg says that decentralised working — now the norm due to Covid — is here to stay and so you will no longer have a large group of people in California, but rather a dispersed workforce more reflective of the country. Mr Dorsey agreed that this was an interesting change that would be a good development.

Earlier, Sacha Baron Cohen had demanded that lawmakers ask Mark Zuckerberg about refusing to ban Steve Bannon from Facebook. 

While the hearing continues, over in the House, Representative Ilhan Omar has sent a letter to Mr Zuckerberg condemning Facebook’s role in ongoing violence in Ethiopia and elsewhere and demanding the platform does more against hate speech.

Earlier, both Twitter and Facebook said they will continue to enforce their fact-checking procedures until after the January run-off elections in Georgia that will determine control of the Senate during the Biden administration.

“Our policy is to have a similar approach in the upcoming Georgia special elections that we took during the general election,” said Mr Zuckerberg, while Mr Dorsey said Twitter may go beyond what it already does to police activity, having learned from its experience to date.

Senator Richard Blumenthal asked that both companies submit an account of any additional measure they take to safeguard the Georgia elections within the next week.

Senator Josh Hawley asks if Facebook coordinates with Google and Twitter on content moderation.

Mr Zuckerberg says they communicate on issues such as security and child protection — not content moderation.

Mr Hawley would like to see a list of content that has been flagged for moderation and any coordination with other platforms.

Referring to modern-day "robber barons" he demands action is taking against big tech for its coordination of which he claims to have evidence.