House Commerce Committee Chairman Walden Says He's Not Inclined to Regulate Edge Providers

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) said he would tend not to regulate Facebook and other edge providers more, but rather would reduce the regulations on their Internet service provider and broadcast competitors. Regarding privacy regulation of social media giants, Chairman Walden said people clearly needed to know how their data and information was being used, but he was clearly not ready to jump on the "regulate the edge" bandwagon that has been revving up. He pointed out that there are user agreements that are enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission, which is the same argument the Federal Communications Commission took in turning broadband regulatory oversight of privacy and neutrality over to the FTC. He said there was clearly a broader question about how media platforms were evolving, but that as a former journalism major, he wants to get the facts first. He said he was more in favor of cleaning out the regulatory underbrush so that all flowers could bloom in that landscape of permissionless innovation and light-touch regulation.