Thread of reactions re: Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on privacy + competition- @SenMikeLee raises WSJ revelations from @JeffHorwitz et al abt Facebook in opening privacy hearing with @SenAmyKlobuchar. First up is Steve Satterfield, Facebook VP of Privacy & Public Policy. 
@SenMikeLee @JeffHorwitz @SenAmyKlobuchar FB VP Satterfield says his testimony may be limited by lawsuits the company currently faces regarding competition issues.
Markham Erickson, Vice President Government Affairs & Public Policy, Google, says "data by itself does not guarantee innovative products," and points out "new entrants" like Zoom, Snapchat, Pinterest etc. that succeed in competing based on product excellence.
Sheila Colclasure, IPG Kinesso Chief Digital Responsibility Officer says her company strongly supports a national privacy law. And, she says, any privacy law will also be a competition law.
John Robb, author of the "Global Guerillas Report" says Europe will harm its ability to innovate with its data protections but the rules will benefit society. The U.S. has a "feudal" system at the moment that will promote social instability.
Charlotte Slaiman, Competition Policy Director at Public Knowledge, says Big Tech firms have gatekeeper power, and that we need to promote the ability of smaller firms to compete with them. Interoperability, data portability among ways to address power in privacy-friendly ways.
@SenMikeLee raises a @geoffreyfowler article to Facebook VP Satterfield (read it, it's excellent): washingtonpost.com/technology/202…
@SenMikeLee @geoffreyfowler .@SenMikeLee says everyone in America understands Facebook's business model, says "what better example could one find" of the premise Facebook is a monopoly than Facebook's ability to demand data from users without telling them the value of that data.
.@SenMikeLee asks about "shocking, absolutely stunning lapses" revealed by @WSJ reporting- says the reckless disregard looks like behavior of a monopoly that feels it has nothing to lose. "Doesn't it look to you like Facebook lacks competition?"
@SenMikeLee @WSJ VP Satterfield says the WSJ pieces miss the mark- @SenMikeLee, visibly angry, says, how does it miss the mark any more so than revelations like those related to Big Tobacco years ago.
@SenMikeLee @WSJ @SenMikeLee asks about the secret partnership between Google and Facebook to not compete on advertising bids. Background: techpolicy.press/lawmakers-ask-…
@SenMikeLee @WSJ Markham Erickson from Google dismisses the claims. VP Satterfield of Facebook concurs with Erickson.
@SenBlumenthal says "we have come very close" on privacy legislation and hopes a draft will be released soon- he does not give a time frame.
@SenBlumenthal says "we have come very close" on privacy legislation and hopes a draft will be released soon- he does not give a time frame.
@SenBlumenthal asks about the "heinously destructive impact of Instagram on teens" as reported in the WSJ last week. "Facebook, in fact, has been blatantly deceptive and disingenuous about this issue." Points to requests he sent to Zuckerberg asking about these specific issues.
@SenBlumenthal enters article by @JeffHorwitz, @dseetharaman and @georgia_wells into the record, naming the reporters. Facebook VP Satterfield disputes Blumenthal's characterization of Facebook's refusal to provide information to the Senate. wsj.com/articles/faceb…
@SenBlumenthal says @nickclegg "doubled down" on Facebook's strategy to mislead on these issues with his blog post this weekend.
Referring to Clegg's blog post as an op-ed, Satterfield says Clegg was accurate in what he wrote.
Blumethal says definitively "your own research has shown" that Instagram is more toxic than Snap or TikTok. @JeffHorwitz is he referring to research you have seen? Don't remember this specific detail).
Incredibly, Facebook VP Satterfield cannot directly answer Senator @HawleyMO whether teens are safe on Instagram. Cannot answer whether he will make the research on Instagram public. Says company will consider releasing it with appropriate context.
Senator @MarshaBlackburn goes after Facebook VP Satterfield, says she and @SenBlumenthal are working with the WSJ-Facebook whistleblower and are reviewing reems of information.
@SenBlumenthal to Facebook VP Satterfield: "You've been sent here to defend the indefensible.... at some point Mark Zuckerberg should get the message..... Houston, we have a problem."
@SenBlumenthal likens Apple and Google's appeasement of Vladimir Putin as akin to Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of the Nazis.
@SenBlumenthal @tedcruz says he read the WSJ exclusive about Instagram and teens because his wife Heidi told him he needed to read it "now".
@SenBlumenthal @tedcruz Here is the full clip of Sen. @HawleyMO questioning Facebook VP Steve Satterfield: c-span.org/video/?c497798…
Cruz to Satterfield: "Has Facebook quantified how many teenagers took their lives as a result of using your product?"
.@SenMikeLee asks Facebook VP Satterfield to commit that Facebook will not retaliate against the Facebook whistleblower(s).
@SenMikeLee Here's my piece on the hearing.
https://twitter.com/justinhendrix/status/1440441688162332673?s=20
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