The chief executive of Google has refuted accusations of political bias as the technology giant faces tough scrutiny at Capitol Hill.
Sundar Pichai came before Congress on Monday where he was expected to address accusations that Google is biased against conservative views as well as answer to allegations of privacy violations.
In prepared remarks released ahead of his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, Pichai said that being biased would go against Google's 'core principles'.
'I lead this company without political bias and work to ensure that our products continue to operate that way. To do otherwise would go against our core principles and our business interests,' he said.
'We are a company that provides platforms for diverse perspectives and opinions – and we have no shortage of them among our own employees.'
In his opening remarks, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said it had been necessary to convene the hearing 'because of the widening gap of distrust between technology companies and the American people'.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler said there was 'no credible evidence' to support the 'right-wing theory' of political bias in favour of liberal voices.
He argued that even if Google were guilty of political bias, this would not be grounds for intervention on the part of the government.
'Even if Google was discriminating against right-wing news outlets that would be its right as a private company to do so not to be questioned by government,' he said.
Google, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have all been forced to fend off accusations of bias against conservatives.
When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was brought before Congress in August, he was questioned about pro-Trump duo Diamond and Silk, who accused the social media platform of reducing their reach. They also claimed to have received an email from Facebook saying that they were 'unsafe to the community'.
Zuckerberg said that in this case, there had been an 'enforcement error' and insisted Facebook was not engaging in bias.
'There is absolutely no directive in any of the changes that we make to have a bias in anything that we do,' Zuckerberg responded. 'To the contrary, our goal is to be a platform for all ideas.'
