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Here's exactly what Twitter and Facebook will say to Congress tomorrow

The social media giants are preparing to testify on election security.

Abrar Al-Heeti Technology Reporter
Abrar Al-Heeti is a technology reporter for CNET, with an interest in phones, streaming, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. She's also worked for CNET's video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all.
Expertise Abrar has spent her career at CNET analyzing tech trends while also writing news, reviews and commentaries across mobile, streaming and online culture. Credentials
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Abrar Al-Heeti
2 min read
Jack Dorsey

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will testify before Congress on Wednesday. 

Getty Images

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg are gearing up to defend their respective companies before Congress on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the executives both released written testimonies as they prepare to address foreign influence and election security on the platforms. 

"Twitter does not use political ideology to make any decisions, whether related to ranking content on our service or how we enforce our rules," Dorsey said in his testimony. "We strive to enforce our rules impartially. We do not shadowban anyone based on political ideology. In fact, from a simple business perspective and to serve the public conversation, Twitter is incentivized to keep all voices on the platform."

In her statement, Sandberg said that interference during the 2016 election "runs counter to everything Facebook stands for" and that the company will continue to fight back against these attacks.  

"We know we can't stop interference by ourselves," she wrote. "We don't have all the investigative tools that the government has, and we can't always attribute attacks or identify motives. But we will continue to work closely with law enforcement around the world and do everything we can to stop foreign election interference wherever it occurs on our platform."

The executives will testify before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about "Foreign influence operations and their use of social media platforms." Dorsey will also appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee to testify on "the company's algorithms and content monitoring." Larry Page, CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet, was also invited to appear before Congress, but declined. An offer to testify from Google's senior vice president of global affairs Kent Walker was rejected by Sen. Richard Burr.

Still, Walker said he plans to be in Washington on Wednesday and released his own testimony Tuesday. 

Sen. Mark Warner tweeted on Tuesday: "Tomorrow the Senate Intelligence Committee will hold an important hearing on the social media companies' responses to foreign influence operations. @Jack will be there. @SherylSandberg will be there. Larry Page should be there, too. It's not too late for @Google to step up."

In response, a Google representative said Walker would deliver written testimony, brief members of Congress about Google's work and answer any questions. "We had informed the Senate Intelligence Committee of this in late July and had understood that he would be an appropriate witness for this hearing," the representative said. 

You can read Dorsey's full testimony here:

And here's Sandberg's opening statement:

You can also read Walker's testimony here:

Time to speak up: Facebook, Twitter and Google have a lot to prove to Congress.

On the lookout: FCC chair calls for more oversight of Facebook, Google and Twitter.