WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd June, 2023) Three US senators have sent a letter to Google-parent Alphabet as well as Meta (banned in Russia as an extremist organization) and Twitter expressing concerns that their recent staff cuts could hurt efforts to combat misinformation ahead of the 2024 presidential election, CNN reported on Thursday.
In their letter, Senators Amy Klobuchar, Peter Welch and Dick Durbin questioned whether layoffs would make it harder for the three companies to uphold their commitment to ensuring election integrity and expressed concerns about the potential impact of new technology on the vote.
"This is particularly troubling given the emerging use of artificial intelligence to mislead voters," they wrote, as reported by CNN.
The lawmakers asked the three companies to respond by July 10 and explain whether they will hire more content moderation employees ahead of the vote and take steps to combat AI-generated deepfakes.
Twitter has reduced its staff by about 80% since Elon Musk took over the social media company last October. Meanwhile, Meta has recently announced plans to eliminate 21,000 jobs, while Alphabet has laid off around 12,00 workers since the COVID-19 pandemic.
