House committee considering subpoena for Twitter CEO: report

A House committee is considering a subpoena to force Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to testify on a slew of issues including perceived bias against conservatives on the platform, according to a new report.

An unnamed House Energy and Commerce Committee source told Politico that staff with the committee raised the possibility during a tense meeting with Twitter representatives on Thursday, because the committee believes that the company has been “delaying” and “stonewalling” lawmakers’ requests.

{mosads}Conservatives are seeking Dorsey’s testimony over concerns about whether the platform “shadowbans” conservatives by making their content harder to find on the platform.

“We do not shadowban according to political ideology or viewpoint or content, period,” Dorsey said during an interview with Sean Hannity earlier this month.

In the same interview, however, Dorsey admitted the company must do more to earn back consumers’ trust over concerns that the platform is not appropriately applying its content policy.

“We’re trying to approach this with a very simple principle: How do we earn more trust?” Dorsey said. “We haven’t done a great job of communicating our principles.”

Other lawmakers are seeking Dorsey’s testimony over issues related to the platform’s use by Russian trolls during the 2016 election to interfere in U.S. politics, testimony which Dorsey is expected to give before the Senate Intelligence Committee early next month.

After the meeting with Twitter’s representatives Thursday, the committee’s chairman Rep. Greg Walden (D-Ore.) urged Dorsey to testify before the House committee on the same day as his expected Senate hearing.

“.@Jack, I appreciate your willingness to speak publicly on issues facing Twitter and agree complex algorithms must be better communicated to consumers. After many good faith efforts from staff, this is your formal invitation to appear before @HouseCommerce on Sept. 5,” Walden tweeted.

.@Jack, I appreciate your willingness to speak publicly on issues facing Twitter and agree complex algorithms must be better communicated to consumers. After many good faith efforts from staff, this is your formal invitation to appear before @HouseCommerce on Sept. 5.

— Rep. Greg Walden (@repgregwalden) August 16, 2018