House Ways and Means Committee Democrats’ decision to include a 30% tax credit for municipal, state and tribal government-owned broadband networks’ operations (see 2109140063) in the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package “is just the latest example of big government picking market winners and losers,” FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon said Tuesday. “Government-owned corporations rarely produce the results they promise” and “this is particularly true of highly competitive and innovative industries like broadband.” President Joe Biden “should take a page from the Trump administration’s playbook and incentivize private markets to bridge the digital divide rather than foolishly continuing to throw more of the taxpayers’ money at the problem,” Brandon said. The American Action Forum and Free State Foundation are among others that also criticized the tax credit proposal.
The FTC should begin a privacy rulemaking (see 2107280061), Senate Democrats wrote Chair Lina Khan Monday. Signers also included Richard Blumenthal, Conn.; Brian Schatz, Hawaii; Ron Wyden, Ore.; Elizabeth Warren, Mass.; Chris Coons, Del.; Ben Ray Lujan, N.M.; Amy Klobuchar, Minn.; Cory Booker, N.J.; and Ed Markey, Mass. “Consumers deserve strong and enforceable privacy safeguards in the digital economy -- opening a rulemaking would be a powerful step toward addressing this long overdue need,” they wrote. The rulemaking should bolster civil rights and cybersecurity, they said. The agency merely confirmed receiving the letter.
The House Oversight Subcommittee rescheduled its virtual hearing (see 2109130049) on social media data practices for Sept. 28 at 10 a.m.
Facebook, Google and Public Knowledge will testify at Tuesday’s Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on big data. It's scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in 226 Dirksen. Witnesses: Facebook Vice President-Privacy and Public Policy Steve Satterfield, Google Vice President-Government Affairs and Public Policy Markham Erickson, Public Knowledge Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman, IPG Kinesso Global Chief Digital Responsibility and Public Policy Officer Sheila Colclasure and “The Global Guerrillas Report” author John Robb.
Congress should pass the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust legislative package and update U.S. antitrust law, state attorneys general wrote Senate and House leaders Thursday (see 2106240071). New York's Letitia James (D) co-signed the letter with Colorado’s Phil Weiser (D), Nebraska’s Doug Peterson (R) and Tennessee’s Herbert Slatery (R). AGs from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Washington, D.C., and Guam signed. “A comprehensive update of federal antitrust laws has not occurred in decades,” they wrote, drawing attention to “decreased competition in important sectors and undue judicial skepticism towards robust enforcement.”
Public Knowledge and 121 other groups urged the Senate Commerce Committee Friday to include a voucher program in the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package aimed at subsidizing computers and other devices so low-income families can access broadband. Commerce Democrats in August eyed up to $10 billion for internet-enabled devices in reconciliation (see 2109020072). Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Rep. Donald McEachin, D-Va., filed the Device Access for Every American Act, which proposes $5 billion for device vouchers. It’s “difficult or impossible” for people to apply for jobs, complete schoolwork or fill out government forms “with just a mobile device or no device,” the groups said in a letter to Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss. “Even if a household lacks home internet, computers and tablets enable consumers to leverage private and public Wi-Fi networks across their communities.”
House GOP lawmakers want to place additional limits on China’s access to U.S. networks via amendments to the Armed Services Committee-cleared FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-4350). House Armed Services advanced HR-4350 earlier this month with language that would improve DOD implementation of its October 2020 spectrum strategy and the department’s adjustment of its systems before the FCC’s planned auction of spectrum on the 3.45-3.55 GHz band (see 2108250075). Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., wants to attach language to HR-4350 from the Defending America’s 5G Future Act, which would codify the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security's placement of Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei to its export entity blacklist. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., proposes barring exports of telecom equipment “that would serve the primary purpose of assisting, or be specifically configured to assist, the People’s Republic of China in acquiring the capability to carry out censorship, surveillance, or any other similar or related activity.” Other tech and telecom-focused amendments include one from Rep. Van Taylor, R-Texas, to create a White House-led Technology Competitiveness Council aimed at keeping the U.S. competitive on tech issues. Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., wants to attach her American Freedom and Internet Access Act (HR-5123), which would require the Air Force to implement Operation Starfall, which would give other countries wireless access via balloons and satellites. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., wants the State Department to report to Congress on the “national security implications” of open radio access networks. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, wants to bar DOD from spending money with tech companies DOJ or the FTC determines have an “unlawful monopoly.” Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., seeks to prohibit federal agencies from requiring or supporting tech companies’ efforts to add backdoors or other security vulnerabilities to their products and services. The House Rules Committee will meet Monday at noon to consider which proposed HR-4350 amendments will get floor votes.
Facebook should abandon plans to develop an Instagram for kids, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote Wednesday with Reps. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., and Lori Trahan, D-Mass. Their letter follows reports about internal documents showing the company knew about a “connection between Instagram and mental health problems among young users,” the lawmakers said. The internal research shows the app contributes to body image and mental health problems, they said: The Wall Street Journal article “focuses on a limited set of findings and casts them in a negative light,” Instagram said. The company stands by the research, which helps inform the company’s work to address these issues, it said.
The House Oversight Subcommittee postponed Tuesday’s hearing on social media data practices. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor Kevin Leicht, New York University Cybersecurity's Laura Edelson and Northeastern University professor Alan Mislove were listed as witnesses. Facebook’s labeling of COVID-19 misinformation “has been somewhat effective” at curbing the sharing of suspect posts, Leicht says in prepared testimony. But because of algorithms and the way Facebook limits access to researchers, they can’t say whether the reduction is due to algorithmic decisions or changes in user behavior, he says. He notes Twitter does “relatively little labeling,” which seems contrary to the company’s stated practices. He suggests researchers, who meet strict confidentiality protocols, should have access to social media data.
House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee Chairwoman Diana DeGette (D) and the other six members of Colorado’s House delegation urged the FCC Thursday to move forward with rules requiring carriers to allow customers to text to the 988 suicide prevention hotline (see 2108130058). “Young people and other at-risk populations are often most comfortable communicating via text,” the lawmakers said in a letter to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “By allowing a text-to-988 option in addition to voice call, the Commission can lower the bar to entry and improve access to crisis counseling and mental health services.”