Senate Judiciary to vote on subpoena for Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey

A Senate panel will vote to subpoena Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey next week to testify on allegations the company is stifling conservative viewpoints, Republican committee leaders announced Thursday.

What’s happening: Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told reporters the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Tuesday on whether to authorize subpoenas to compel Dorsey to testify before the committee that Friday. Cruz, who chairs Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, said Dorsey will be asked to address “why Twitter is abusing their corporate power to silence the press and to cover up allegations of corruption.”

A Twitter spokesperson declined comment on the announcement.

Hawley, who chairs Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, called for the full committee to also vote on subpoenas for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, though it was not immediately clear whether the vote would include him.

Key context: The social media company has come under fire from Republicans including President Donald Trump and his congressional allies for blocking users from an article alleging direct ties between the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son's business dealings, which the Biden campaign has contested.

Twitter has said it took steps to limit the distribution of the article because it violated policies about articles featuring hacked materials and against publishing people’s personal and private information. Facebook separately has said it limited the article’s distribution pending fact-checking by third-party partners.

Dorsey and Zuckerberg are slated to separately testify alongside Google CEO Sundar Pichai before the Senate Commerce Committee later this month for a hearing on the tech industry's prized liability protections.