Dem Rep. Schakowsky: ‘We’re Going to Regulate’ Tech Companies, and There Must Be ‘Limitations’ on User Content

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” House Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Chairwoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) discussed the subcommittee’s hearing with the CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter and said that the hearing’s purpose was to send the message to tech companies “That we’re going to regulate. We’re going to legislate.” And that there “have to be some limitations, not just on advertising.”

Schakowsky said of the hearing, “So, the purpose really was, from my point of view, to make sure that the tech companies understood that the day of self-regulation has really ended. And that, now, it is time for us to regulate, and that we intend to. That we’re going to regulate. We’re going to legislate.”

After Schakowsky discussed holding platforms liable for false ads, host Chris Hayes asked about user content on social media and “what those sort of content moderation policies look like, and the degree to which the government is specifically prescribing them?”

Schakowsky responded, “Yes, and I — but I do think that there are — have to be some limitations, not just on advertising. But the kind of thing that — I mean, they have — Facebook has housed QAnon for many, many years, and certainly, on the 6 of January. That was coordinated. Well, people died.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett