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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Google's Sundar Pichai was grilled on privacy, data collection, and China during congressional hearing [cnbc.com]

Google's CEO testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday [house.gov] where lawmakers grilled him on a wide range of issues, including potential political bias on its platforms, its plans for a censored search app in China and its privacy practices.

This is the first time Pichai has appeared before Congress since Google declined to send him or Alphabet CEO Larry Page [cnbc.com] to a hearing on foreign election meddling earlier this year. That slight sparked anger [cnbc.com] among senators who portrayed Google as trying to skirt scrutiny [cnbc.com].

[...] Tuesday's hearing was titled [house.gov] "Transparency & Accountability: Examining Google and its Data Collection, Use, and Filtering Practices" and many representatives posed questions on whether or not Google's search results were biased against conservative points of view.

[...] Another topic that came up multiple times was Google's plan to launch a censored search engine in China [cnbc.com]. The Intercept first reported details [theintercept.com] of the project over the summer, which would block search results for queries that the Chinese government deemed sensitive, like "human rights" and "student protest" and link users' searches to their personal phone numbers. [...] "Right now, we have no plans to launch search in China," Pichai answered, adding that access to information is "an important human right."

Also at Bloomberg [bloomberg.com] and The Hill [thehill.com].

See also: Sundar Pichai had to explain to Congress why Googling 'idiot' turns up pictures of Trump [theverge.com]
Google CEO admits company must better address the spread of conspiracy theories on YouTube [techcrunch.com]
Alex Jones, Roger Stone crash Google CEO hearing [politico.com]
Monopoly man watches disapprovingly as Congress yells at Google's CEO [thenextweb.com]

Previously: Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal [soylentnews.org]
Uproar at Google after News of Censored China Search App Breaks [soylentnews.org]
"Senior Google Scientist" Resigns over Chinese Search Engine Censorship Project [soylentnews.org]
Google Suppresses Internal Memo About China Censorship; Eric Schmidt Predicts Internet Split [soylentnews.org]
Leaked Transcript Contradicts Google's Denials About Censored Chinese Search Engine [soylentnews.org]
Senators Demand Answers About Google+ Breach; Project Dragonfly Undermines Google's Neutrality [soylentnews.org]

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