House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is launching an investigation following recent concerning reports indicating Meta’s AI assistant and Google Search’s Autocomplete function generated inaccurate or nongermane information related to the assassination attempt of President Donald Trump. The Committee has long been concerned with how large technology companies leverage their businesses to influence public opinion, especially against the backdrop of an alarming pattern of speech suppression and censorship peddled through technology and social media companies. In a letter to Google Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai, Chairman Comer requests documents and information to better understand how Google designs its Search product and Autocomplete features. In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman Comer seeks documents and information to better understand how the Meta AI chatbot is designed, reviewed, managed, and updated.
“Americans rely upon prominent internet search engines such as Google to gather news and information critical to their understanding of national politics and events—and never more so than during a Presidential election season,” wrote Chairman Comer to Google CEO Pichai. “On behalf of the American people, the Committee is dedicated to fully understanding when and how information is being suppressed or modified, whether it be due to technical error, a policy intended to ensure safety, or a specific intent to mislead. Google users report that autocompleted search prompts related to the assassination attempt of President Trump produced results for failed assassination attempts of former Presidents, including Harry Truman, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan—or even assassinations of historical figures such as Archduke Franz Ferdinand—but omitted from the list of automatically generated search suggestions the recent attempt on President Trump’s life. The Committee now writes to request certain documents and information to assist its investigation of this matter to better understand how Google designs its Search product and Autocomplete feature.”
In August 2022, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed Facebook censored the New York Post story on Hunter Biden’s laptop following warnings from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that Facebook should be cautious of misinformation and foreign interference. The Committee advanced, and the U.S. House passed, H.R. 140, the Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act, to expressly prohibit federal employees from using their authority to influence or coerce a private sector entity to censor any lawful speech posted on its service by a person or entity.
“The Committee has long been concerned with how large technology companies leverage their businesses to influence public opinion—especially the design and use of content moderation policies within private sector social media companies—and how company policies are shaped and influenced by Executive Branch officials,” wrote Chairman Comer to Meta CEO Zuckerberg. “When asked if the assassination on President Trump was fictional, Meta’s bot responded that there ‘was no real assassination attempt on Donald Trump. I strive to provide accurate and reliable information, but sometimes mistakes can occur.’ The Committee requests that Meta produce all internal policies or any other documents related to how the Meta AI chatbot is designed, reviewed, managed, and updated.”
Read the letter to Google CEO Pichai here.
Read the letter to Meta CEO Zuckerberg here.
