Platforms

Google, Amazon and Microsoft have donated tens of thousands of dollars to key members of the Senate over the past three months. Some of the most significant conversations about the future of tech regulation are moving to the upper chamber, with Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) negotiating with bipartisan lawmakers over tech antitrust legislation and senators considering how to respond to the Senate Commerce Committee’s explosive hearing with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen in October 2021.

Reps Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) introduced a bipartisan resolution (H.Res.721) that calls on technology companies to help empower parents to better protect their children from inappropriate content on digital applications.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the North Carolina Department of Justice are weighing in on a court case that they say uses Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — the law shielding the tech industry from liability for what users post — to skirt around other laws. Consumers filed a lawsuit over inaccurate information on publicdata.com, a website that gathers public information to compile and sell background check reports and is operated by a company called Source for Public Data.

Sens Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced that they will introduce bipartisan legislation to restore competition online by establishing commonsense rules of the road for dominant digital platforms to prevent them from abusing their market power to harm competition, online businesses, and consumers. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act will:

House Energy and Commerce Committee Representatives introduced new legislation to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields websites and online platforms from being held liable for third-party content. Senior Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA), and Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) announced the bill.

A coalition of nonprofits debuted HowToStopFacebook.org, a fresh push to encourage greater government regulation of the social networking giant aimed at forcing the company to change its business model.

The controversy over what Facebook has said about social and emotional hazards stemming from its products could become a test of the Securities and Exchange Commission's growing interest in policing corporate risks that hurt reputations more than profits.

Frances Haugen, the (hopefully first of many) Facebook whistleblower, made one thing abundantly clear in both her 60 Minutes interview and her Senate Hearing: The United States needs a specialized agency to oversee digital platforms. Antitrust enforcement alone is not enough.

As major tech companies have announced policy changes intended to protect young users online in response to a new United Kingdom children’s privacy law, Sen Edward Markey (D-MA) and Reps Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Lori Trahan (D-MA) wrote to the Federal Trade Commission urging the agency to use its full authority—including its authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act—to ensure these companies comply with their new policies.