Media
US MUSIC INDUSTRY LEADERS HAMMER TWITTER FOR ‘RAMPANT THEFT’ IN JOINT LETTER ON DAY OF SOCIAL MEDIA HEARING | MBW
Big tech bosses from Facebook, Google and Twitter in the US are giving testimony to Congress today (March 25) in a hearing entitled, “Disinformation Nation: Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation.”
The hearing, which you can watch in full here, is being held jointly by the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and sees Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Facebook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey give evidence.
According to the memorandum issued by Chairman Frank Pallone Jr on Monday (March 22), the hearing aims to investigate “The role of social media platforms in promoting misinformation and extremist content”.
“Facebook, Google, and Twitter operate some of the largest and most influential online social media platforms reaching billions of users across the globe,” reads the document. “As a result, they are among the largest platforms for the dissemination of misinformation and extremist content.”
Ahead of today’s session, US music organizations including the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), Recording Academy, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and others have issued a joint letter to Congress hammering Twitter for its “failure to meet the most basic standards of responsible moderation with respect to other illegal activity – specifically, the rampant theft of creative works on its platform”.
The letter continues: “Hopefully, this hearing and your ongoing oversight of technology platforms like Twitter will provide an opportunity for Jack Dorsey to explain why anyone should believe the company’s claims about online mis- and dis-information in light of its long track record of broken promises, indifference, and outright extortion when it comes to artists and music creators.”
You can read the letter and article on Music Business Worldwide.