Google CEO testimony to Congress - LIVE: Sundar Pichai asked why Trump appears when you search 'idiot' amid grilling about data collection
Sundar Pichai says Google has 'no plans' to launch censored search engine in China
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Weeks before Democrats take over control of the House of Representatives, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are questioning Google CEO Sundar Pichai on issues including transparency, data collection, and filtering.
This is the latest of several hearings Republicans have set up with tech company executives, which they claim have shown liberal bias in their dealings.
Google refused to send a representative the last time the Judiciary interviewed the top brass of social media companies, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. But, since then, the Mr Pichai has held closed door meetings with members of Congress to discuss what Republicans have branded as liberal bias at Google.
Follow updates from the hearing below and watch a live stream of the testimony here.
Please allow a moment for the live blog to update
Mr Pichai has told Congress that "many internet companies" track a variety of information when interacting with customers.
He said that location is "in the fabric" of how we access the internet in modern days, and agreed that changes can be made.
The hearing was just temporarily stopped because a protestor began displaying a poster in the room. That person has been removed without too much fuss.
"Both YouTube and Google are really committed to freedom of expression," Mr Pichai has said when asked about countries suppressing free speech on YouTube or Google.
Mr Pichai has also said that Google eliminates bots when it detects them.
Representative Steve Cohen has taken a page out of the Republican playbook and noted that a Google search of his name brings up conservative websites more often than websites like MSNBC.
Republicans have frequently during this haring claimed that they have Googled conservative causes only to see anti-conservative articles populate searches.
Representative Jim Jordan, a Republican, is confronting Mr Pichai over emails from a Google employee that appears to show Google pushing for voter turnout "in key states" during the 2016 election. The emails were first reported by Fox News.
Mr Pichai said that Google looked into the emails and that they found no evidence to substantiate the claims.
Mr Pichai is now being asked about the emails brought up by Mr Jordan, and said that Google does not build "partisan features", but that they do create features based around registering people to vote, or to inform people where to vote.
He did not argue that the emails do not exist, and suggested earlier in the hearing that individual employees at Google often will pursue their own activism.
Mr Pichai has told Congress that Google does not sell user data, and has repeatedly claimed that users have the ability to determine what data about them is collected and used.
"We always think there is more to do. ... We do make it very transparent and we encourage users to go check it out," Mr Pichai said when asked if Google does enough to protect user data and to tell users what is being used or collected.
Republican Representative Ted Poe is repeatedly asking Mr Pichai if Google would know if he got up and walked around the room with his phone.
Mr Pichai responded that he would need to know what specific apps and services Mr Poe had opted in to before he could say if his phone would send that information to Google.
Mr Poe now has said it is "ironic" that the US does not have a robust privacy law on the books similar to what the European Union has.
Mr Pichai was asked if he would like for Google to be regulated by the US government, to which he said the company is subject to regulations already.
Meanwhile, a member of the audience sat behind him dressed as the Monopoly man and shook his head in disagreement. He even had a monocle:
Human rights groups like Amnesty International are using this Google hearing, which is trending on several fronts in US Twitter, to promote their advocacy.
Amnesty tweeted that Google should not launch in China if it means creating a censored Google platform. Mr Pichai has said they do not plan on launching in China.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments