Facebook, Twitter, YouTube are pressed on 'poisonous' algorithms

Executives from Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube were pressed by lawmakers Tuesday on how user content is shared and highlighted on their platforms through algorithms that one senator said can be misused, “driving us into poisonous echo chambers.”Sen. Ben Sasse, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s panel on Privacy, Technology and the Law, made the comment as members examined algorithms — the lines of software code that determine how user-generated information is displayed and who gets to see it.“Algorithms, like almost any technologies that are new, have costs and benefits” and can be abused, said Sasse, who is from Nebraska.The hearing took place as Congress is considering how to overhaul Section 230, a provision of the 1996 communications law that protects internet companies from liability for user content. One House proposal would make social media platforms responsible for the way content is shared and amplified through algorithms. “I plan to use this hearing as an opportunity to learn about how these companies’ algorithms work, what steps may have been taken to reduce algorithmic amplification that is harmful and what can be done better,” said Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat and the subcommittee’s chairman, as…
Read More