There has never been a more pertinent display of the problem of having almost exclusively older men running the country than the congressional hearings that attempt to address privacy in the internet age. The unforgettable moment when Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) asked Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg how the platform remains free, to which Zuckerberg had to explain that they run advertisements, will live on in infamy. Today, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) asked what was possibly an even more clueless question of Google CEOÂ Sundar Pichai.
After @SteveKingIA raises inscrutable concerns about iPhones, Google CEO Sunday Pichai patiently informs him, "Congressman, iPhone is made by a different company." pic.twitter.com/TiNZ1t3VRo
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 11, 2018
During King’s opportunity to ask questions after issues of political bias and data mining had been raised was spent asking Pichai why his granddaughter’s iPhone shows her negative news stories about him.
‘I have a 7-year-old granddaughter who picked up her phone during the election, and she’s playing a little game, the kind of game a kid would play. And up on there pops a picture of her grandfather. And I’m not going to say into the record what kind of language was used around that picture of her grandfather, but I’d ask you: how does that show up on a 7-year-old’s iPhone, who’s playing a kid’s game?’
Pichai answered, “Congressman, iPhone is made by a different company.”
Instead of recognizing that he had just made an absolute fool of himself, King pressed on, saying that the phone may have been an Android. Google doesn’t make those, either.
If the growing concerns around internet security are to be legislated by people who do not even understand the difference between websites and cell phones, it’s likely to be a long road to real, comprehensive reform that protects Americans’ safety.
Twitter was wildly amused by the senator’s ignorance. Read some of their comments below:
Featured image screenshot via Twitter
