Alex StamosFeb 8, 2023

Watching the House Oversight hearing and the ex-Twitter witnesses are doing a great job while being attacked by pretty much everybody.

Some initial reactions:
1) Despite the high-profile nature of this hearing, members don't seem much better prepared than in other tech hearings. Lots of misuse of technical terms (Rep. Jordan asking about "hard coding" multiple times) and confusion on the Hunter non-consensual tweets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fo_yD8r3w4

Full Committee Hearing - Part 1: Twitter’s Role in Suppressing the Biden Laptop Story

Learn more at https://republicans-oversight.house.gov/

YouTube
Show threadAlex StamosFeb 8, 2023

2) The panel, especially Yoel, is doing an excellent job of staying calm and explaining why the wildest theories exposed by the committee are not supported by the evidence.

3) This is a clear demonstration of the no-way-to-win dynamic on all political content moderation. I expect it will have the (intentional?) effect of reducing the willingness of companies to take any action on political accounts. This was a dynamic @evelyndouek, Nate Persily and I discussed here:

https://moderated-content.simplecast.com/episodes/meta-reinstates-trumps-accounts-7l3bLsEf

Meta Reinstates Trump's Accounts | Moderated Content

Evelyn sits down with Nate Persily, Professor at Stanford Law School, and Alex Stamos, director of the Stanford Internet Observatory, to discuss Meta's decision that it is reinstating former President Trump's accounts. Nate is pragmatic, Alex is cynical, and Evelyn is a naive little formalist about it all. Here's their quick takes.

Moderated Content
Show threadAlex StamosFeb 8, 2023
4) Rep. Taylor Greene is fortunate that the Speech and Debate clause protects her from a slander lawsuit from Dr. Roth as she once against repeats a lie (one amplified by Mr. Musk) about his PhD dissertation that will drive even more abuse and threats his way.
Show threadJeff
@alex no one who hates Americans should serve
Feb 8, 2023 at 5:00pmWeb