Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz launched a Commerce Committee investigation into Big Tech last month as House Republicans probe government influence over online speech platforms. On Thursday, the Texas senator followed up with Silicon Valley’s major players to explain their initial responses to congressional inquiries were not adequate.
Cruz, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, launched the GOP probe in the upper chamber with letters to Meta, Google, Twitter, and TikTok requesting information about content regulation.
“As you are well aware, social media companies rely on algorithms to not only moderate content, but also to surface personalized recommendations to users,” Cruz wrote to the four tech giants. “Recommendation systems play an increasingly ubiquitous role in selecting content for individual consumption, including by promoting some content, using product design elements to prominently display recommendations, and downranking or filtering disfavored content and account.”
Cruz highlighted concerns about addiction and exposure to harmful content in particular.
“At their best, recommendations help users discover interesting or relevant content that they might not otherwise find on a platform,” Cruz wrote. “However, recommendation systems can also fuel platform addiction by feeding users an essentially infinite stream of content. This can be especially dangerous when recommendations make it easier for vulnerable users, especially teenagers, to find objectively harmful content, such as content that promotes eating disorders and self-harm.”
Cruz promised viewers on Fox News the investigation would pursue revelations exposed in the “Twitter Files” that brought light to
