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U.S. Justice Department may delay state AG meeting relating to social media: source
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department is considering delaying a meeting with state attorneys general planned for next week to discuss concerns about conservative voices being stifled on social media, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
A U.S. flag flies at the headquarters of the Department of Justice in Washington, U.S., August 3, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
The Justice Department said last week it had invited a bipartisan group of 24 state attorneys general to attend the Sept. 25 meeting. So far, the attorneys general of California, Nebraska, South Carolina and Texas have said they would attend.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the meeting after President Donald Trump criticized social media outlets for what he said was unfair treatment of conservatives. Antitrust issues are also expected to be discussed at the meeting.
The Justice Department is considering holding the discussion during a November meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General, the source said.
The NAAG meeting is scheduled for Nov. 27-29 in Charleston, South Carolina, according to the group’s website.
Companies like Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Google owner Alphabet Inc have been accused by some conservatives of seeking to exclude their ideas. The companies deny any such bias.
Representative Greg Walden, chair of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a hearing earlier this month that Twitter had made “mistakes” that, he said, minimized Republicans’ presence on the social media site, a practice conservatives have labeled “shadow banning.”
At the hearing, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey acknowledged the incidents had occurred and said that Twitter’s algorithm had been changed to fix the problem.
Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Bernadette Baum
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