California’s Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-2 Tuesday to advance a bill that would force tech platforms to pay news publishers for the news content they carry, similar to approaches seen in Australia, Canada and Europe.
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the state properly applied a state voter intimidation law to bring criminal charges against defendants Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman for their roles in the robocall campaign to suppress Black citizens' mail-in votes in the run-up to the 2020 election, said the office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) in a news release Thursday. The ruling remanded the case to the Michigan Court of Appeals for consideration of the criminal charges, it said. “This voter intimidation law is a vital protection for Michigan voters and proponents of a participatory democracy,” said Nessel. “Intentionally false statements to deceive any Michigan voter from exercising their rights at the ballot box are illegal,” she said. “I’m grateful to have this ruling make that abundantly clear, especially as we head toward another presidential election this autumn. We look forward to continuing with the criminal case and bringing this matter to trial.” U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero for Southern New York in Manhattan granted summary judgment against Wohl and Burkman in a 111-page order he signed in March 2023 (see 2303090003). Marrero found that Wohl and Burkman “set into motion a full-scale voter suppression operation during the summer of 2020 to discourage eligible voters from voting” by targeting mail-in votes in Black neighborhoods in Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Richmond. Wohl and Burkman were to face an April 15 jury trial on summary judgment damages, but they and the 10 plaintiffs in the case agreed to a consent decree that averted the trial with a week to spare (see 2404090022).
AI regulation leaped forward Tuesday following EU governments' approval of the AI Act and Friday's adoption of the Council of Europe (CoE) framework convention on AI. The EU measure is "the first of its kind in the world and can set a global standard for AI regulation," the European Council said. The CoE document is the first international treaty "aimed at ensuring the respect of human rights, the rule of law and democracy legal standards in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems," the CoE said in an email.
The Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday voted along party lines to pass two bills aimed at combating AI-driven manipulation of election content such as deep fakes and synthetic audio.
The House Commerce Committee plans to mark up a bipartisan, bicameral privacy bill this month, Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., announced Sunday in a draft bill agreement with Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
The House plans to vote this week on foreign surveillance legislation, an aide for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told us Friday.
U.S. export controls on clean technology goods to China would likely be “ineffective” and could backfire on American businesses trying to develop the next generation of green energy products, a researcher for a major European think tank said in a new report this month. The report argues that solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies don’t warrant new controls because they have “no dual-use or human-rights applications,” and restrictions could further strain the already fraught U.S.-China relationship.
The House voted 352-65 Wednesday to approve legislation that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if Chinese parent company ByteDance doesn’t divest the app in six months (see 2403120062).
Members of the European Parliament this week disagreed on the best path forward for new EU-wide supply chain due diligence rules, although an official with the Belgian presidency said it believes the EU can reach a compromise before the end of the current parliament’s term in April.
Members of the European Parliament this week disagreed on the best path forward for new EU-wide supply chain due diligence rules, although an official with the Belgian presidency said it believes the EU can reach a compromise before the end of the current parliament’s term in April.