Tech stocks lead the market lower amid disappointing Microsoft outlook and congressional hearing with industry CEOs

• Technology stocks cratered on Wednesday, leading the market lower amid an ongoing congressional hearing with the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook, and Alphabet regarding Section 230.
• The Senate hearing was contentious as Republican Senators like Ted Cruz laid into Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for its handling of the NY Post Hunter Biden story published earlier this month.
• Microsoft also sank in Wednesday trades after it reported third quarter earnings that included a disappointing outlook in its personal computing division.
• Watch tech stocks trade live here.

US technology stocks cratered in Wednesday trades, leading the broader market lower amid congressional testimony on Section 230 from the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook, and Alphabet.

Section 230 is a 1996 law that protects internet platforms from being held liable for content posted by its users.

With hundreds of millions of users, if not billions, it is in the best interest of the technology companies to not be held liable for what their users say on its platform.

The hearing grew contentious with Republican Senators like Ted Cruz criticizing Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for its handling of a NY Post article about Hunter Biden published earlier this month.

Twitter didn't allow the sharing of the link to the NY Post story by any of its 330 million monthly active users, but it later reversed course on its policy.

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President Donald Trump weighed in on the hearing with a tweet on Wednesday, saying, "The USA doesn't have Freedom of the Press, we have Suppression of the Story, or just plain Fake News. So much has been learned in the last two weeks about how corrupt our Media is, and now Big Tech, maybe even worse. Repeal Section 230!"

Shares of Twitter, Facebook, and Alphabet fell as much as 6%, 5%, and 5% in Wednesday trades, respectively.

Microsoft fell as much as 4% in Wednesday trades after the company reported its fiscal first quarter earnings. The results were better than expected, with a beat on both the top and bottom lines.

But Microsoft's fiscal second quarter revenue outlook in its personal computing division was below analyst estimates. The technology giant expects personal computing revenue of $13.2 billion to $13.6 billion, well below estimates of $14 billion.

The Nasdaq 100 traded down 3.12% as of 1:01 p.m. ET on Wednesday, outpacing the S&P 500 and Dow Jones decline of 2.9%.

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