Google, Facebook failed to show contrition in hearings: Mike Huckabee

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Google failed to show contrition during a congressional hearing on Wednesday about their efforts to identify and prevent any false information spread by foreign entities on their platforms, according to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Sandberg testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, along with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Although Larry Page, the CEO of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, was invited to testify, he declined to attend.

In a blog post, Google reviewed the steps it has taken to curtail the spreading of false information over the past 18 months; its senior vice president of global affairs and chief legal officer also met with lawmakers.

“I think Jack Dorsey was the most honest of the group,” Huckabee said on Wednesday during an interview with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo. “He showed some contrition -- something that Sheryl Sandberg failed to show, and something that Google clearly failed to show by not showing up at all.”

Lawmakers grilled the two tech executives about the role of their social media companies’ efforts to stop foreign meddling and also raised the prospect of regulating the platforms during a hearing that lasted for more than two hours.

While regulation is one of the likely outcomes of the testimonies, Huckabee said there may also be mitigation or litigation: Either the companies will fix the problems themselves and self-regulate, or they’ll get sued “big time.”

“And they’re going to lose,” he said. “And they’re going to spend billions of dollars in court.”