| Hi folks, Naomi here. For years, Washington has been pressuring social media companies to clean up the more unsavory corners of their platforms. But the tech giants have few financial incentives to make the sweeping changes required, some of which could hurt growth. That tug of war between the interests of Washington regulators and shareholders was on full display this week. And it looks like Wall Street is winning—for now. On Tuesday, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee pressed executives from Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube to explain the role their platforms play in amplifying extremism, polarization and hate speech. Senator Dick Durbin came armed with a laundry list of examples of companies' failures to moderate their platforms—including the online organization of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and the use of Facebook's network to hatch a doomed plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. "We need social media companies to finally take real action to address the abuse and misuse of their platforms and the role that algorithms play in amplifying it," Durbin said. The tech executives, of course, told the lawmakers they were taking action. The company managers said social media platforms train their algorithms to identify posts that might violate their policies on misinformation, hate speech, harassment and privacy. Standard tactics include reducing the spread of content that may be objectionable, but doesn't quite break the rules. The companies have also said they publicize accurate information about sensitive issues like voting and vaccines. "The reality is, it is not in our interest—financially or reputationally—to push people toward increasingly extreme content," Facebook Vice President for Content Policy Monika Bickert testified. But while social media companies may not want offensive posts proliferating on their websites, they are incentivized to create algorithms that serve up a steady stream of engaging content. Historically that's meant more politically inflammatory rhetoric, both in the U.S. and in other countries where social media companies operate. Research has shown that user posts with moral outrage are more likely to spread faster, and that social media can open the door to violent extremism. The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook's own internal research showed it increased polarization. The companies have clearly succeeded in delivering engaging content. On Wednesday, Facebook told investors it made $26.2 billion last quarter, trouncing analysts' estimates. Earlier this week, YouTube owner Alphabet Inc. reported a whopping $45.6 billion in revenue, as digital advertising picks back up. Twitter, another ad-driven business, could report similarly positive results later on Thursday. During an unusual moment on Wednesday's earnings call, Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg was asked about the hearing and whether business would suffer if lawmakers passed regulations to tackle the problems surfaced by social media companies' algorithms. Zuckerberg said the narrative that Facebook's profits from extremism is overblown. For Facebook shareholders' sake, Zuckerberg should hope Congress believes him. —Naomi Nix | 
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