Facebook, YouTube, Twitter execs grilled by senators over addictive nature of their apps

U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, speaks with U.S. Senator and ranking member Ben Sasse (R-NE) during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, in Washington, D.C., April 27, 2021.Al Drago | Pool | ReutersExecutives from Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube testified before Congress on Tuesday about the ways their algorithms influence users and sometimes serve harmful misinformation.The hearing before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy and technology highlighted a key feature of the social media platforms that has amplified some of the most serious harms lawmakers have been seeking to address through a wide swath of bills.Algorithms are essentially the formula social media platforms use to decide what information to surface to people using an app or website. While both Facebook and Twitter have introduced more choice for users around whether they want to view a curated timeline of content on their feeds or not, algorithms can be a useful way to surface the most engaging content for any given user, based on their interests and past activity.While that can work to provide a better user experience, it can also drive users…
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