The State Department’s 2019 emergency arms sales to Persian Gulf countries (see 1907150033 and 1907300027) did not violate export control laws, but the agency failed to “fully assess risks” the weapons could lead to “civilian casualties” and other “legal concerns,” the Office of Inspector General said in an Aug. 11 report. The report was released days after House and Senate Democratic leaders subpoenaed four State Department officials and accused the agency of stonewalling congressional oversight of the emergency transfers and the firing of former department Inspector General Steve Linick (see 2008030046).

The potential departure of FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly may affect work to allocate part of the 3.1-3.55 GHz band for 5G, lawyers and commission officials told us. President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday DOD agreed to hand off a 100 MHz portion of the 3450-3550 MHz band for commercial shared use (see 2008100038). FCC work on the band isn’t as far along as some other frequencies and NTIA is raising concerns (see 2007070062).

Responding to a spate of reported 911 dispatching issues, a Washington, D.C., auditor might conduct a long-awaited probe of the Office of Unified Communications next year. Alleged OUC incidents -- including sending first responders to the wrong address or multiple responders to the same place -- could show a systemic problem, said a neighborhood commissioner and firefighter union president in interviews last week.

The FCC got broad opposition to a proposal for deregulating telephone access charges in an April NPRM (see 2007070025), in comments posted through Wednesday in docket 20-71. The agency cast the TAC NPRM as a bid to “eliminate outdated and unnecessary regulations” and simplify bills for consumers.

Policing political content curation by platforms like Facebook and Twitter isn’t within FTC jurisdiction, Chairman Joe Simons said Wednesday at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing. Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., asked the commission about President Donald Trump’s social media executive order (see 2008040059).

Policing political content curation by platforms like Facebook and Twitter isn’t within FTC jurisdiction, Chairman Joe Simons said Wednesday at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing. Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., asked the commission about President Donald Trump’s social media executive order (see 2008040059).

House Commerce Committee Republicans on Monday requested a classified State Department briefing on TikTok, days after President Donald Trump threatened to ban the Chinese social media platform from the U.S. Microsoft is continuing talks to buy TikTok, after CEO Satya Nadella discussed it with Trump, it said Sunday: “Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns." It's committed to acquiring TikTok "subject to" a complete review, it said. House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, Ore.; House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, La.; and House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Wash., raised concerns about the video app and alleged ties to a Chinese company doing secret face recognition and data harvesting. Walden and Rodgers cited previous complaints about TikTok on children’s privacy, corporate governance and COVID-19. Banning TikTok would threaten U.S. jobs and the livelihood of American content creators reliant on the app, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Vice President Daniel Castro said: “In a week where many policymakers have called for more competition in the tech sector, undermining one of the fastest-growing social media platforms would be a step in the wrong direction.” ACT|The App Association said it's encouraged by ongoing negotiations for Microsoft to buy TikTok: “While this is an ongoing negotiation with no guaranteed outcome, we strongly urge policymakers to avoid a government intervention in banning TikTok that could result in an unprecedented geofencing of access to an online service used by 50 million Americans a day and create significant disruption to the app economy.” The State Department didn’t comment. The Microsoft blog suggests Trump “at least tentatively blessed the deal,” said Cowen analyst Paul Gallant. The deal could strengthen Facebook’s argument against antitrust scrutiny, and it might invite more attention on Microsoft from policymakers in Washington, he said.

House Commerce Committee Republicans on Monday requested a classified State Department briefing on TikTok, days after President Donald Trump threatened to ban the Chinese social media platform from the U.S. Microsoft is continuing talks to buy TikTok, after CEO Satya Nadella discussed it with Trump, it said Sunday: “Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns." It's committed to acquiring TikTok "subject to" a complete review, it said. House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, Ore.; House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, La.; and House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Wash., raised concerns about the video app and alleged ties to a Chinese company doing secret face recognition and data harvesting. Walden and Rodgers cited previous complaints about TikTok on children’s privacy, corporate governance and COVID-19. Banning TikTok would threaten U.S. jobs and the livelihood of American content creators reliant on the app, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Vice President Daniel Castro said: “In a week where many policymakers have called for more competition in the tech sector, undermining one of the fastest-growing social media platforms would be a step in the wrong direction.” ACT|The App Association said it's encouraged by ongoing negotiations for Microsoft to buy TikTok: “While this is an ongoing negotiation with no guaranteed outcome, we strongly urge policymakers to avoid a government intervention in banning TikTok that could result in an unprecedented geofencing of access to an online service used by 50 million Americans a day and create significant disruption to the app economy.” The State Department didn’t comment. The Microsoft blog suggests Trump “at least tentatively blessed the deal,” said Cowen analyst Paul Gallant. The deal could strengthen Facebook’s argument against antitrust scrutiny, and it might invite more attention on Microsoft from policymakers in Washington, he said.

House Commerce Committee Republicans on Monday requested a classified State Department briefing on TikTok, days after President Donald Trump threatened to ban the Chinese social media platform from the U.S. Microsoft is continuing talks to buy TikTok, after CEO Satya Nadella discussed it with Trump, it said Sunday: “Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns." It's committed to acquiring TikTok "subject to" a complete review, it said. House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, Ore.; House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, La.; and House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Wash., raised concerns about the video app and alleged ties to a Chinese company doing secret face recognition and data harvesting. Walden and Rodgers cited previous complaints about TikTok on children’s privacy, corporate governance and COVID-19. Banning TikTok would threaten U.S. jobs and the livelihood of American content creators reliant on the app, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Vice President Daniel Castro said: “In a week where many policymakers have called for more competition in the tech sector, undermining one of the fastest-growing social media platforms would be a step in the wrong direction.” ACT|The App Association said it's encouraged by ongoing negotiations for Microsoft to buy TikTok: “While this is an ongoing negotiation with no guaranteed outcome, we strongly urge policymakers to avoid a government intervention in banning TikTok that could result in an unprecedented geofencing of access to an online service used by 50 million Americans a day and create significant disruption to the app economy.” The State Department didn’t comment. The Microsoft blog suggests Trump “at least tentatively blessed the deal,” said Cowen analyst Paul Gallant. The deal could strengthen Facebook’s argument against antitrust scrutiny, and it might invite more attention on Microsoft from policymakers in Washington, he said.

House and Senate Democratic leaders subpoenaed four State Department officials and released parts of an interview with a former official that the lawmakers say raise questions about the administration’s controversial military sales to Gulf states last year (see 1907150033 and 1907300027). The interview -- a July 24 testimony by former State Department official Charles Faulkner -- points to a “small group” of agency officials who were “determined to ignore legitimate humanitarian concerns ... to ram through more than $8 billion in arms sales,” according to an Aug. 3 joint press release from House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Bob Menendez, D.-N.J.