Representative Anna Eshoo, D-California, speaks during a rally in the Capitol building to ask the Senate to vote on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, on the package of prescription drugs and the health care package.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Lawmakers look beyond social media companies when it comes to cracking down on misinformation.
Representatives Anna Eshoo, D-California, and Jerry McNerney, D-California, sent letters to executives from AT&T, Verizon, Roku, Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Charter, Dish, Cox, Altice, Google parent Alphabet and Hulu, owned by Disney on Monday urged them to address the misinformation of their services. They linked disinformation and conspiracy theories to the radicalization of the people who stormed the US Chapter on January 6, while lawmakers decided to claim the victory of President Joe Biden.
“Disinformation on TV has led to our current environment of polluted information that radicalizes individuals to commit seditious acts and rejects public health best practices, among other issues in our public discourse,” lawmakers wrote in the letters.
Eshoo and McNerney asked suppliers how they determine whether to broadcast a channel and how they tried to manage the spread of misinformation and incitement to violence between the 2020 elections and the January 6 insurgency. Eshoo and McNerney identified Fox News, Newsmax and One America News Network as channels that broadcast misinformation before the riot and spread false information about Covid-19.
MPs also asked companies if they intend to continue broadcasting and why.
The letters show that lawmakers are still seeking to hold traditional sources of information accountable, while acquiring executives on newer platforms such as Facebook and Twitter about their role in amplifying lies. The letters come ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, “Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media,” hosted by a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which includes both Eshoo and McNerney.
Representatives of the companies mentioned in this article did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the letters. Comcast declined to comment.
Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.
Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
SEE: Facebook’s fight against election manipulation