Facebook, Google and Twitter will testify at House Judiciary hearing

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Representative Bob Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia

Representatives from Facebook, Twitter and Google parent company Alphabet will testify at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on social media filtering, the committee announced on Friday.

The July 17 meeting will address concerns about transparency and bias in content filtering, as well as examine the role of competition law, to prevent anti-competitive filtering practices. Companies will “answer questions on their content moderation practices and how they can be better stewards of free speech in the United States and abroad,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said in a statement.

Policy heads scheduled to attend on behalf of the three companies include Monika Bickert of Facebook, Juniper Downs of YouTube and Nick Pickles of Twitter.

In April, the House Judiciary Committee held the first in a series of hearings on social media practices. It focused on metrics social media platforms used to moderate content. Facebook, Google and Twitter were invited to that hearing, as well.

Some conservative Republicans in Congress have criticized social media companies for what they claim are politically motivated practices in removing some content, a charge the companies have rejected.

–Thomson Reuters contributed to this report.