Reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and its “mass spying program” under Section 702 “without going through the full legislative process and robust debate betrays the public’s trust,” the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement Monday. The organization reiterated its opposition with 30 other advocacy groups (see 2311130039). “If congressional leadership includes an extension that allows Section 702 to continue to operate beyond April 2024” without changes, the ACLU “will have no choice but to oppose the NDAA and score the vote,” it said.

The House Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee plans a Thursday hearing to examine FTC and other federal agencies’ compliance with Judiciary Committee document requests and subpoenas. The FTC in August said it was following federal laws for maintaining its records amid concerns raised by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and two other Hill Republican leaders that the agency was impeding Jordan’s oversight requests (see 2308170041). FTC Chair Lina Khan earlier claimed House Judiciary aides were trying to harass agency staff via document requests (see 2307270044). FTC Congressional Relations Office Director Jeanne Bumpus will testify for the agency during the hearing, which will also examine the State Department and FBI. The hearing will begin at 2 p.m. in 2141 Rayburn.

Incompas CEO Chip Pickering praised House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., for her longtime role in communications policymaking following the lawmaker's announcement that she won’t seek reelection in 2024 (see 2311210073). “I had the honor of serving in Congress with” Eshoo “and to say she will be missed is an understatement,” said Pickering, a Republican who served on House Communications with Eshoo. “Her time in Congress was marked by three decades of tirelessly advocating for her constituents in California, and pushing forward bipartisan policies that have shaped our telecommunications history and paved the way forward for its future. Even after my time with her in the halls of Congress, we remained friends and worked together to continue to advance America's position as the global leader in technology and work to ensure Internet for All.” Eshoo is one of seven House Commerce Committee members who have announced they won’t be seeking reelection next year. The others: Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.; Michael Burgess, R-Texas; Tony Cardenas, D-Calif.; Bill Johnson, R-Ohio; Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz.; and John Sarbanes, D-Md. Cardenas is the only other sitting House Communications member who’s retiring.

TikTok is becoming a “mouthpiece” for antisemitic and terrorist propaganda under the influence of the Chinese government, House Republicans wrote the platform's CEO Shou Zi Chew Tuesday. House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., led the effort with House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Buddy Carter, R-Ga, and more than a dozen members. They cited statistics showing American users in the 18-24 age range are engaging widely with content backing Hamas following its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. According to TikTok statistics, the “hashtag ‘#freepalestine’ received 946 million views in the last 30 days, while ‘#standwithIsrael’ received only 55 million,” they wrote. They’re seeking answers about influence from Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance and tools used to amplify content. “Since this terrorist attack, disinformation related to the conflict has run rampant on your platform, stoking antisemitism, support, and sympathy for Hamas,” they wrote. TikTok didn't comment.

DOJ should publicly release unclassified documents about the “Hemisphere” phone surveillance program, which lets agencies surveil “trillions of U.S. phone records,” often without warrant, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday. Wyden cited public records showing the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy “indirectly pays AT&T to allow any federal, state, local or Tribal law enforcement agency to search AT&T customers’ phone records as far back as 1987.” DOJ has marked unclassified documents related to the program as “law enforcement sensitive,” he said. “I have serious concerns about the legality of this surveillance program, and the materials provided by the DOJ contain troubling information that would justifiably outrage many Americans and other members of Congress.” DOJ confirmed receiving the letter but declined comment.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., praised the FCC Thursday for approving an order implementing the Safe Connections Act during its Wednesday meeting (see 2311150042). The order provides a pathway for domestic violence survivors to separate their phone lines from family plans and to call or text hotlines without the numbers being included in logs. It also establishes temporary eligibility for survivors to receive Lifeline support. “Survivors of domestic violence should never have to live in fear of their abusers,” said Fischer, who joined Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, in sponsoring the bill (see 2212070055). “The FCC’s implementation of our legislation will ensure that these survivors have the tools to safeguard their communications and connect with critical services securely.”

Congress inched closer Tuesday night and Wednesday to enacting a continuing resolution to fund the FCC, FTC, NTIA and other Commerce Department agencies at FY 2023 levels through Feb. 2 (HR-6363), which would avert a government shutdown threatened for Friday night. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., filed cloture Wednesday on the motion to proceed to HR-6363, potentially setting up votes on the measure before a shutdown would begin. The House voted 336-95 to approve HR-6363, clearing the two-thirds majority needed to pass it under suspension of the rules (see 2311140073).

Bipartisan legislation introduced Wednesday would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop standards for companies to identify and disclose AI-generated content. Introduced by Sens. John Thune, R-S.D.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.; Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.; and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., the AI Research, Innovation and Accountability Act would direct NIST to develop standards for “providing both authenticity and provenance information for online content, similar to the efforts of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity,” they said. The bill increases transparency for consumers and limits government intervention, said Thune.

Meta needs to turn over documents and communication related to whistleblower claims that CEO Mark Zuckerberg and executives deliberately ignored recommendations to address social media’s impact on youth mental health, a bipartisan group of Senate Judiciary Committee members wrote the company Tuesday, as expected (see 2311130052). Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wrote the letter with Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; and Josh Hawley, R-Mo. They cited an unsealed complaint in a lawsuit Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell (D) filed against Meta. The complaint shows Zuckerberg “personally vetoed” a new safety feature and supported the company’s underinvestment in platform safety staff, the senators said: “It now seems clear that the root of Meta’s repeated failure to act to enhance the safety of its products starts at the top.”

Congress shouldn’t reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 in its continuing resolution, 27 consumer advocate groups wrote Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Monday. Among the signees were: Access Now, American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Prosperity, Center for Democracy & Technology, Demand Progress, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Free Press Action and New America's Open Technology Institute. They cited media reports that Schumer is considering including reauthorization in the Senate’s CR, days after a bipartisan, bicameral bill was introduced to reform Section 702 (see 2311060068). “Allowing a short-term reauthorization to be slipped into a must-pass bill would demonstrate a blatant disregard for the civil liberties and civil rights of the American people,” the groups wrote. Schumer’s office didn’t comment.