Twitter whistleblower Peiter Zatko will testify at a hearing today. | Gregory Bull/AP Photo
09/13/2022 07:00 AM EDT
Twitter whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko will be the star Tuesday at the latest congressional grilling on the tech industry’s alleged failings — this time, claims that the social media company’s lax practices have endangered users’ privacy and data security.
Feeling déjà vu? There’s a reason.
Congress has been holding hearings for years to spotlight lawmakers’ complaints about Silicon Valley, from tech platforms’ vulnerability to Russian meddling in the 2016 election to last year’s media-splashed allegations against Facebook by whistleblower Frances Haugen. But lawmakers have little to show for it, at least in terms of enacting legislation to change the industry’s ways.
Some veterans of D.C.’s tech wars expect little of that to change after Zatko testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I am all for congressional oversight,” said Jessica Melugin, director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute, which is often dubious about new tech regulations. “That being said, congressional hearings in general — and certainly, technology-focused congressional hearings — have been more showmanship than substance over the last couple of years. And it’s an election year, so double or triple that.”
Not everyone is so skeptical. Avery Gardiner, chief counsel for competition and tech policy...
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