The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency should reevaluate security risks of Chinese-built drones operating in support of U.S. law enforcement, wrote Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., in a bipartisan letter Thursday with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and 14 other senators. The letter cites threats from drones built by Shenzhen DJI Innovation Technology, a company they said has “deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party.” Shenzhen provided drones to “operators of critical infrastructure and state and local law enforcement” in the U.S., they said: “The use of its drones in such sensitive contexts may present an unacceptable security vulnerability.” They recommended CISA examine the issue and publish findings in its National Cyber Awareness System. CISA didn't comment.

NTCA and 15 other groups urged heads of the House and Senate Agriculture committees Tuesday to include language in the 2023 farm bill that codifies “a minimum service level commitment of 100 Mbps symmetrical broadband service” for recipients of ReConnect program money, “the level specified” in the program’s “oversubscribed third round.” The “overwhelming demand for ReConnect funding even as applicants have been expected to perform at high levels proves that setting a high standard for network and service capabilities does not deter applicants whatsoever, but rather demonstrates a surplus of interest by providers willing and able to deliver better broadband in rural America that will rival what is available to urban users,” NTCA and the other groups said in a letter to Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., House Agriculture Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and their ranking members. Using “a lesser standard would represent an inefficient step backwards, flying in the face of the substantial demand demonstrated in the most recent round of ReConnect and failing the rural communities that need broadband capable of keeping pace with user demand for decades to come. Policies that encourage sustainable networks that meet the needs of consumers now and into the future will be most efficient in responding to consumer demand over the lives of those networks, particularly when compared to short-term solutions that are likely to be quickly outpaced by technological evolution and consumer demands and require substantial re-investment relatively soon thereafter.”

President Joe Biden is seeking a small appropriations increase for the FCC and a much larger one for the FTC in its FY 2024 budget request, those agencies said Monday. The Biden administration unveiled broad outlines of its FY24 appropriations request last week. Biden proposes giving the FCC more than $410.7 million for FY24, including almost $12.7 million for its independent Office of Inspector General. That’s a 5% increase from the amount Congress approved for the FCC in December as part of the FY 2023 omnibus appropriations package (see 2212230049) and what the White House sought that year. The administration proposes giving the FTC $590 million, a 37% increase from FY23 and more than 20% more than Biden proposed last year (see 2203280069). The FCC noted its budget proposal calls for Congress to extend the commission’s now-lapsed spectrum auction authority “for ten years through 2033.” The mandate expired Thursday amid a Senate-side impasse over a set of dueling legislative proposals to extend the authority. Those negotiations are to continue this week (see 2303100084).

The FTC’s “harassment” of Twitter after Elon Musk’s buy of the platform raises concerns about agency conduct, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wrote FTC Chair Lina Khan Friday. They cited a report from the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government, a newly created panel under House Republican leadership. Democrats unduly influenced the agency after the Musk purchase, the lawmakers wrote: This included pressure from seven Senate Democrats urging the agency to investigate “any breach of Twitter's consent decree or violation of our consumer protection laws.” They were referring to two data breaches at Twitter in 2009, which resulted in a 2011 consent decree. Twitter was hacked in July 2020 (see 2007160074), and the company’s data privacy practices came under scrutiny again in September (see 2209200075). The subcommittee report “revealed how FTC harassed Twitter in wake of Mr. Musk's acquisition, demanding among other things the identities of the journalists with whom it was engaging and all communications relating to Mr. Musk,” the letter said. The agency confirmed receiving the letter but declined comment.

Senate Democrats reintroduced legislation Thursday to impose a duty of care on social media platforms to ensure data is handled securely. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, led 19 Democrats in reintroducing the Data Care Act. The bill would subject platforms to FTC and state enforcement, granting the FTC rulemaking authority to implement the new law. It establishes duties of care, loyalty and confidentiality, meaning platforms would have to take “reasonable” steps to protect user data. Those duties extend to third parties like data brokers. Violation of those duties could mean FTC fines and/or civil enforcement action from state attorneys general.

Senate Judiciary Committee members probed Wednesday for ways to update Communications Decency Act Section 230 and hold tech platforms more accountable for the impacts of their algorithms (see 2303030041). Senate Technology Subcommittee ranking Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questioned whether anything in the statutory language of Section 230 supports the “super immunity” that protects platforms from liability when they use algorithms to amplify content and profit. University of Washington law professor Eric Schnapper, who recently argued two cases on behalf of social media victims before the Supreme Court, told Hawley the text separates concepts like merely hosting content from boosting it. But it would help if Congress clarified language in the statute, said Schnapper. Hawley asked Schnapper for a specific legislative recommendation for how to fix platforms’ affirmative content recommendations. Schnapper told him the issue is “too complicated” to offer legislative language on the spot, but he’s happy to work with Hawley’s office on a proposal. The Supreme Court recognizes online content is often promoted, sometimes in a “very addictive way to kids,” said Senate Technology Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. Quoting Chief Justice John Roberts from the recent oral argument in Gonzalez v. Google, he said online videos don’t “appear out of thin air. They appear pursuant to the algorithms.” Though Justice Elena Kagan admitted she and her colleagues aren’t internet experts, they understand algorithms play a role, said Blumenthal. There’s rare Judiciary Committee consensus on the need to better protect children online, said Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Congress should do something to “make Section 230 make sense,” he said: Something needs to change so platforms have incentives to protect children. The case law on Section 230 doesn’t provide the necessary remedies “quickly enough or thoroughly enough,” said Blumenthal: The internet is no longer a “neutral conduit.” The common ground on Section 230 “boils down” to Congress giving victims their day in court, which Section 230 has prevented for “too many years,” said Hawley. He said he hopes the Supreme Court will “remedy” some of the issues with Section 230 in the Gonzalez case (see 2302210062).

Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is continuing to formulate legislative ideas with ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, to address competition issues for digital ad markets, they said during a hearing Tuesday. They introduced bipartisan legislation on the same issue in May with the Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act (see 2205190054). Lee referred to a bill during Tuesday’s hearing that he called the "America Act," which he said would “tackle competition in digital advertising.” Klobuchar said she’s working with Lee on a bill to improve competition and transparency in ad technology markets, and a hearing is scheduled for later this month. Lee said, despite his concerns about Big Tech, the “cure” shouldn’t be “worse than the disease,” and Congress should avoid replacing “corporate tyrants” with bureaucratic tyrants. Congress should solve these issues, not delegate policy decisions to unelected bureaucrats, he said. Trillion-dollar corporations have “pervasive control” over how internet users communicate, shop, consume news, influence public debate and use smart appliances, he said: Big Tech’s business strategy is based on addiction, particularly for young users. He alleged social media companies colluded with Big Tech to censor content and surveil users. Klobuchar said the demotion of Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., in the House (see 2302020069) will make it harder to pursue bipartisan antitrust legislation, but doing nothing would be a “huge mistake.”

The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Wednesday markup of the newly refiled Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act (HR-1338), Secure Space Act (HR-675) and 11 other satellite, spectrum and communications security measures, the Commerce Committee said Monday. House Communications had been expected to mark up HR-1338 this month (see 2302080073) after lawmakers spoke favorably about the measure during a February hearing. HR-1338 would require the FCC to issue “specific performance requirements” for satellite licensees to meet on space safety and orbital debris. It would also require the commission to set a 180-day shot clock to limit the timeline for reaching decisions on license applications. HR-675 would bar the FCC from granting satellite licenses to any entity it identifies as a national security risk under the 2020 Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act. Also on the Wednesday docket: the Leveraging American Understanding of Next-Generation Challenges Exploring Space Act (HR-682), Open Radio Access Networks Outreach Act (HR-1340), Spectrum Coordination Act (HR-1341), Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act (HR-1343), NTIA Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination Act (HR-1345), Advanced, Local Emergency Response Telecommunications Parity Act (HR-1353), Information and Communication Technology Strategy Act (HR-1354), American Cybersecurity Literacy Act (HR-1360), Communications Security Act (HR-1370) and Promoting U.S. Wireless Leadership Act (HR-1377). The markup session will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn. HR-682 would require the FCC to streamline the authorization process for commercial launches’ access to spectrum. HR-1339 would require the FCC to review and potentially institute changes to satellite rules to promote precision agriculture. HR-1340 would direct NTIA to provide outreach and technical assistance to small communications network providers on how to use ORAN technologies. HR-1341 would require the FCC and NTIA to update their memorandum of understanding for handling spectrum allocations at least once every four years. HR-1343 would provide statutory authority for ITS’ role in managing NTIA’s telecom and spectrum technology programs. HR-1345 would create an Office of Policy Development and Cybersecurity within NTIA. HR-1353 would require the FCC to allow satellite direct-to-cell service providers and others to apply to access spectrum to fill in wireless coverage gaps in unserved areas specifically to provide connectivity for emergency services. HR-1354 would require the Commerce Department to develop a strategy to evaluate the economic competitiveness of companies within the communications technology supply chain. HR-1360 would require that NTIA to establish a cybersecurity literacy campaign to increase public knowledge and awareness of cybersecurity risks, including best practices for preventing cyberattacks. HR-1370 would codify the existing Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council. HR-1377 would direct NTIA to encourage U.S. companies and others to participate in international standards-setting bodies.

Senate leaders “are working right now to get” the chamber to “come to an agreement very soon" for a temporary extension of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority before Thursday, the mandate’s current expiration date, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY., said on the floor Monday. The House unanimously approved legislation last week to renew the FCC’s remit through May 19 (HR-1108). Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us she backs HR-1108’s timeline, while Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., is pressing for a renewal through Sept. 30, the end of FY 2023 (see 2302280068). The extension is needed “to give both sides more time to arrive at a larger comprehensive” spectrum legislative deal, Schumer said: Congress has never before allowed” the FCC’s authority “to lapse and to let it happen for the first time would be disastrous. Spectrum is essential for building out 5G capabilities. Its application impacts everything from families’ internet access, to satellite communications, all the way down to baby monitors.”

The House Communications Subcommittee plans a March 10 hearing on spectrum legislation, the Commerce Committee said Friday. The hearing would happen a day after the FCC’s current spectrum auction authority expires, amid hopes the Senate will pass (see 2302280068) a House-cleared bill to extend that mandate through May 19 (HR-1108). Congress agreed in December to the most recent renewal after lawmakers failed to attach a bipartisan spectrum proposal to the FY 2023 omnibus appropriations package (see 2212190069). “Commercial spectrum policy is national security policy” because “we know the Chinese Communist Party seeks to write the rules for future communications technologies and has already used companies like Huawei to tap into our communications networks to surveil Americans,” said House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Communications Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “Conducting this hearing on the importance of establishing a strong national spectrum policy, including extending the FCC’s spectrum auction authority, is necessary in order to secure our global competitive edge against China while strengthening American communications leadership.” The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.