Twitter, Facebook CEOs to testify before Senate Judiciary after election

The CEOs of Twitter and Facebook have agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on allegations of anti-conservative bias at a hearing after the November elections, the panel announced Friday, staving off a legal confrontation between the companies and Congress.

Congress and Silicon Valley chiefs strike a deal: Republican lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to authorize subpoenas to compel Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to testify on the companies' handling of a disputed New York Post report on Joe Biden and his son. The panel on Friday announced Zuckerberg and Dorsey agreed to appear voluntarily at a Nov. 17 hearing to address "the platforms’ censorship and suppression of New York Post article."

Republican Judiciary leaders last week voiced a desire to haul in the CEOs ahead of the November election, but the move was met by opposition from Judiciary Democrats and at least some Republican panel members. The committee said Friday the hearing will serve to "review the companies’ handling of the 2020 election."

But still in the hot seat: Dorsey and Zuckerberg are slated to separately testify alongside Google CEO Sundar Pichai before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday. That hearing will focus on the liability protections that shield internet companies from lawsuits for hosting, moderating and taking down user content.