Washington, D.C. — Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is questioning whether Facebook and Twitter employees are politically hostile to conservatives.
Ernst was among the Republicans on a Senate Committee who complained Tuesday that conservatives were being censored on the social media platforms in the run up to the 2020 Election.
(As above) “The people that I hear from, of course, believe that conservatives were wrongfully being silenced, while those on the left that were given basically free reign of your platforms,” Ernst said. “…You do recruit heavily from California, which leads to your employee base skewing quite heavily to the left.”
Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Jack Dorsey of Twitter testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee for hours Tuesday. Ernst asked if they had taken steps to make their employee base more politically balanced. Zuckerberg responded.
(As above) “This is a sensitive area where I don’t think it would be appropriate for us to ask people on the way in what they’re political affiliation is,” Zuckerberg said.
Zuckerberg says as more people are able to work remotely, from anywhere, the company’s employee roster will diversity into other regions. He also told Ernst Facebook has turned to independent fact-checkers to assess what “misinformation” may be posted on the platform. Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey says the company has a framework for dealing with complaints about political bias. He also said the company is at a point where it can decentralize it’s employee base. Democrats on the committee rejected complaints of bias from Ernst and other Republicans, countering that nearly every day the most engaged pages on Facebook offer what they termed “far right content.”
