The Hill’s Reid Wilson: Tech companies are nervous they’re becoming a scapegoat for the GOP

Reid Wilson, a campaign reporter for The Hill, says in a new interview that tech companies fear that they are becoming scapegoats for congressional Republicans. 

“They’re really nervous that they are becoming the scapegoat for Republicans who want to shift the focus for what they see as the liberal media, which is now transferring into the liberal Silicon Valley, technology companies that run a lot more of our lives than we know,” Wilson told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on “What America’s Thinking.” 

Republicans in Congress, in particular in the House, have lashed out against Google, Facebook, Twitter and other tech companies in recent months over allegations of bias on the platforms against conservatives. Tech companies have denied that politics influences their operations.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who testified alongside Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg on election meddling before a Senate panel Wednesday, was set to face questions from lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee later in the day over claims of conservative censorship.

The Trump administration has signaled that it will take action on the matter, with the Justice Department announcing on Wednesday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions  will meet with attorneys general in September to address the issue that tech companies may be “intentionally stifling” the free movement of ideas on their websites.

— Julia Manchester