The Justice Department said Jeff Sessions will convene a number of states’ attorneys general later in September "to discuss a growing concern that these companies may be hurting competition and intentionally stifling the free exchange of ideas on their platforms." | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Technology Sessions throws DOJ's weight into social media bias complaints DOJ said it’s concerned about ‘free exchange of ideas.’ But one industry representative questioned whether the aim is to ‘intimidate’ tech companies.

Wednesday was meant to be Silicon Valley's day in the Washington hot seat over Republican accusations of anti-conservative bias.

Then Attorney General Jeff Sessions heightened the stakes by announcing that his Justice Department will dig into the topic — an action that follows weeks of complaints by President Donald Trump.


In news that landed in between the day’s two tech-focused congressional hearings, the DOJ said Sessions will convene a number of states’ attorneys general later in September "to discuss a growing concern that these companies may be hurting competition and intentionally stifling the free exchange of ideas on their platforms." That development reverberated throughout the tech industry — which scrambled to figure out what, exactly, Sessions was up to.

Some in the industry said the DOJ's announcement raises concerns about politicization.

"Mixing 'competition' and the 'exchange of ideas' raises the idea of government using antitrust law to intimidate companies into doing their bidding — into being favorable to the Trump administration," said Ed Black, president and CEO of the Computer and Communications Industry Association. "It's worrisome." Facebook and Google are both members of CCIA.

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Sessions, though, isn't the first Republican to raise the notion of greater government oversight of online platforms.

"I’m not looking for a lot of regulation, I’m looking for responsibility," House Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said at a February event. "If responsibility doesn’t flow, then regulation will."

Trump in recent weeks has repeatedly hammered on the idea — one popularized by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other prominent conservatives — that Twitter, Facebook and Google are biased against conservatives. That much is clear. But much of the rest of what the DOJ is doing is a mystery, people in the industry say, including whether the outreach to state attorneys general is bipartisan and whether the DOJ envisions any avenue for applying competition law to questions of partisan discrimination.

The DOJ dropped its notice in between a Senate hearing on election security featuring Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, and a House hearing on alleged bias featuring Dorsey alone. The DOJ said in its statement that it had "listened ... closely" to the Senate session, a somewhat confusing note given that bias hardly came up during that hearing.

A DOJ source said the session with Sessions and the local officials is set to take place Sept. 25, and had been scheduled before the hearing to address the attorney general's longstanding concerns.

Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel of the trade association NetChoice, said that his fellow conservatives' push for more oversight of digital platforms is ill-conceived.

"Conservative values are centered around the idea that businesses should be allowed to do what they think is best for their customers, and that's exactly what these companies are doing," said Szabo. Facebook and Google are members of NetChoice.

Asked what sort of legal argument about competition Sessions might be making, "It doesn't make any sense to me," said Szabo, a former Federal Trade Commission official on the staff of Republican Orson Swindle.

Sessions' outreach to state attorneys general is significant — many of the regulatory actions taken against the tech industry in recent years have happened on the local level. California recently passed a set of privacy rules widely opposed by the industry, and Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican, has announced that he's investigating Google on antitrust and privacy grounds.

Said Hawley at the time, “I will not let Missouri consumers and businesses be exploited by industry giants.”

Dorsey got a question about the DOJ's surprise announcement during Wednesday afternoon's hearing. Florida Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor asked whether the Twitter CEO felt like he was the target of a "manipulation campaign," especially when the DOJ action comes amid Republican fundraising efforts off the bias complaints.

"Now the Justice Department even says, 'Boy, this is so serious that we have to investigate it,'" Castor said.

Dorsey didn't take the bait, saying he appreciated concerns about the platform he heads.

"That's a very diplomatic answer, I have to say," Castor shot back.

Democratic lawmakers, though, were quick to say that the huge amount of attention Republicans are paying to alleged social media bias is little more than political grandstanding.

“As reported in the news, the Trump campaign and the Republican majority leader have used the supposed anti-conservative bias online to fundraise," said New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "This hearing appears to be just one more mechanism to raise money and generate outrage. It appears Republicans are desperately trying to rally their base by fabricating a problem that simply does not exist.”

Dorsey found himself in a tight spot throughout his day on Capitol Hill. Complaints that Twitter was meddling with conservative tweets were mixed with calls for him to help improve the quality of public discussions that take place on Twitter.

In pushing back against complaints of bias, many in the tech industry argue that social media has actually been a boon to conservatives. The Tea Party first found traction there, they point out, and Trump is among its most prominent users.

Trump, in fact, often turns to Twitter to voice his complaints about his own administration, including Sessions. On Monday, for example, Trump mocked Sessions for recently bringing charges against two Republican members of Congress shortly before the mid-term elections that will determine the control of Congress. "Good job Jeff...... [sic]," the president tweeted.