Brian Fung | @[email protected]

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

@geoffmanne So he does! I stand corrected. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Cook will argue that the Apple app store was itself a revolutionary, competitive offering at a time when software was costly to distribute. Now, he says, the app store’s rules and policies “ensure a high-quality, reliable and secure user experience." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Apple’s testimony is now up on the committee site. Tim Cook appears to be the only CEO of the four to mention Rep. John Lewis, saying hosting him at Apple was “was one of the great honors of my life” https://t.co/SyDgLm7GpL — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

@MattSepara It’s one of my favorite two-parters. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

“My products benefit the entire world!” Henry Starling says to Janeway. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Lol just rewatched the episode of Voyager where a rich white tech CEO from 1996 tries to fly a stolen time-ship into the 29th century, putting all of space-time at risk but justifying it because of the cool products he’ll build with the IP he brings back. Just total coincidence — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Pichai will also claim Google faces significant competition in search because you can “search for information” outside of a search engine by talking to Amazon Alexa, reading the news on Twitter or “ask[ing] friends for information on WhatsApp.” Seems like a reach, but okay. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Pichai cites Google’s billions in R&D spending, which he describes as “investments in America’s future,” and all the small businesses Google has helped. “Because of our tools, businesses on Main Street can compete in a way that wasn’t possible 20 years ago,” he will argue. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is expected to start his testimony by describing his experience as an immigrant, explaining that the economic opportunity he’s benefited from has shaped his work at Google. His remarks are on the committee website, here: https://t.co/KuSHKjsZBx — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @davidshepardson: All the testimony up except @Apple @tim_cook https://t.co/FyDnSqQr4y — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

A key theme in Bezos’s testimony is scale — how many thousands of jobs Amazon's created; how much wealth it’s made for shareholders; how many businesses rely on it. It’ll be interesting whether lawmakers take that as he intends, or if they view it as evidence of too much power. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Bezos will say he believes "Amazon should be scrutinized. We should scrutinize all large institutions, whether they’re companies, government agencies, or non-profits. Our responsibility is to make sure we pass such scrutiny with flying colors." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Amazon has posted Jeff Bezos’s prepared congressional testimony. He’s expected to open with a personal touch, describing the background of his mother and father before saying they took a big risk by investing their life savings in their son’s idea. https://t.co/eXvw4nzleX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Perhaps most substantively on antitrust, Zuckerberg will defend Facebook’s M&A strategy, describing it as an effort to build “better services that provide more value to people and advertisers.” He’ll claim it took Facebook for WhatsApp and IG to introduce certain features. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Zuckerberg will also reiterate the familiar talking point that Facebook must constantly compete or risk being made obsolete, particularly pointing to China and its “version of the internet focused on very different ideas." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Nothing too surprising in the rest of it. Among other things, he makes the case that Facebook has been aggressively fighting Covid-19 misinformation (though kind of awkward in light of this week’s viral misleading video that racked up millions of views before getting taken down). — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

We’ve gotten a copy of Mark Zuckerberg’s prepared congressional testimony. He’s expected to argue that Facebook "is a successful company now, but we got there the American way: we started with nothing and provided better products that people find valuable." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Is it possible to be preemptively tired for everything that’s going to happen tomorrow, or — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

At this hearing, Sen. Lee just brought up the video that got Don Jr.’s Twitter account temporarily limited, saying the people in the video were “medical doctors” whose misleading claims on Covid are no different than a difference of opinion on how to treat strep or cancer. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Former Rep. Chris Cox, an author of Section 230 and who’s testifying at this Senate hearing, says the claim that the law requires online platforms to be politically neutral is “just wrong.” If that were the case, he says, the RNC and DNC couldn’t operate websites at all. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

As early as mid-July, CBP was already planning for agents to remain in Portland into **October** 👇 — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @jeremyherb: NEW: House Intel has scheduled a Wednesday meeting to give the full chamber access to classified information under purview… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

At this Senate hearing on Section 230, Sen. Wicker seems interested in striking “otherwise objectionable” from the law or restricting its meaning so that sites can’t use it to explain content decisions (implication being that it’s currently used to justify political censorship). — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

ICYMI last night, Trump is moving ahead with his attempt to regulate social media: https://t.co/6tXKhliFdr — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @kerrymflynn: "We plan to return to Las Vegas for CES 2022, combining the best elements of a physical and digital show." https://t.co/xi… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Meanwhile, some at the FCC are saying the agency should steer well clear of it. Here’s @JRosenworcel in a statement: https://t.co/68n4r3DMNh — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

FCC spokesman Brian Hart said the agency will carefully review the petition. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

The Trump administration has formally submitted its request to the FCC for rules “clarifying” Section 230, in a new petition for rulemaking that fulfills a key part of Trump’s social media executive order. Here’s the filing: https://t.co/iwIap38AJ2 — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

To me, the idea that a real congressperson would enjoy anything about HoC’s depiction of Washington, much less want to thank Bezos for it, seems like the weirdest part of this paragraph. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

@adamconner @TonyRomm @haroldfeld The subcommittee should put life-size cardboard cutouts in the audience of all the lawyers, lobbyists and PR people who’d normally be there — PolitiTweet.org