Google CEO Dismisses Political Bias Claims, as More Hearings Likely

The company deserves credit for announcing Google-Plus’ latest security flaw before Tuesday’s hearing, Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., told us. House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told us he looks forward to continuing a dialogue with Pichai after a private sit-down between the two last week. House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., told us he will pursue his own hearing to address Google concerns. Schiff and Pallone are expected to chair their respective committees in 2019.

Schiff said he and Pichai discussed Russian disinformation on YouTube, potential for algorithms to direct users to more extreme content, intellectual property and piracy. “It was a good discussion, and there’s more follow-up to do,” Schiff said.

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., told us he assumes the House Commerce Committee will request a hearing with Pichai. “It’s certainly something we need to look into, investigate,” Pallone said when asked about the latest Google-Plus security flaw. “I’m sure we will have hearings.”

Google announced the data breach Monday, citing a software bug installed in November, a month after it responded to the first privacy breach affecting some 500,000 users. As many as 52.5 million users were subject to the latest flaw. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Tuesday he’s working on a privacy bill, taking a “number of ideas” from his white paper (see 1808200034). “I’ve gotten a lot of interest from members of both sides of the aisle,” Warner said, declining to name potential collaborators.

Goodlatte argued during opening remarks that most Americans don’t know the extent of Google data collection, saying company practices would “even make the NSA blush.” Pichai didn’t deny Goodlatte’s assertion that Google is tracking Android users every second. The platform provides consumers choices on what data is collected, and the terms of service are easily accessible, Pichai said. Location tracking isn't the default, he added, but users might opt in at some point.

Pichai dodged questions on whether any Google employees have discussed the so-called Dragonfly project with Chinese officials (see 1810160022). It's committed to being “fully transparent” if it ever advances plans in China, he said, calling access to information “an important human right.” Google will be “very thoughtful, and we’ll engage widely as we make progress,” he said, declining to rule out a Chinese search product.

There’s no evidence developers misused data in the latest Google-Plus breach, Pichai said. Google is constantly testing systems to improve, he said, playing down worries about other products. Gmail has a much more advanced system for protecting data, he said.

Republicans cited examples of Google’s alleged political bias, with Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas, claiming 96 percent of references to President Donald Trump are from liberal media. It’s impossible for a Google employee to manipulate search results for political purposes, Pichai said, noting algorithms are dictated by 20 years of methodology meant to perfect Search. Results are based on user interaction and popularity, he said, and Google doesn’t manually intervene in any particular result. “Our algorithms have no notion of political sentiment.”

“Results speak for themselves when conservative issues get shoved to the back of the list and liberal views get shoved to the top,” Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, told us. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, told us he wants to know if there’s an ideological balance on Google employees who write algorithm policies and to see the algorithms themselves. “If we can do that, we don’t have to amend Section 230” of the Communications Decency Act, which has some safe harbors for those hosting content.

Ranking member Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., dismissed anti-conservative bias claims as “fantasy,” calling it a right-wing conspiracy theory not supported by evidence. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., noted he has been on MSNBC multiple times recently and yet the top search results for him are from conservative outlets like Breitbart News and The Daily Caller. Google is biased against liberal media, he joked.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., gave opening remarks as a non-committee member. Google shouldn't be used to strengthen China’s authoritarian system of surveillance and suppression, he said, and the platform should be free of political bias. Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, creator of InfoWars, attended and was spotted outside claiming Google is infringing on his First Amendment rights. Goodlatte acknowledged during the hearing that as a company, Google doesn’t have First Amendment obligations.