WASHINGTON—A day before Google’s chief was set to meet with high-ranking Republicans, critics in a congressional hearing accused the internet giant and other tech firms of being “insular” and dismissive of the free-speech rights of conservatives.
The contentious hearing, the latest such congressional event in recent months, could drive calls for stricter regulation of Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., and other big tech companies and stoke concerns of their political bias—including accusations that such bias influences content...