The U.S. joined more than 60 countries in a shared commitment to an open, inclusive, interoperable internet that respects basic human rights, they said Thursday. The Declaration for the Future of the Internet is a response to “rising digital authoritarianism” in countries like Russia and China, White House officials said during a press call Wednesday, citing repression of freedom of expression, news censorship, election interference and disinformation. The EU, Ukraine, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and Australia were among those endorsing the declaration. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo praised the declaration and applauded President Joe Biden’s goal of connecting “every single American to high-speed internet.” The declaration is “a timely opportunity to recommit to a shared vision of the global Internet as an open platform for opportunity, innovation, and understanding,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. Computer and Communications Industry Association President Matt Schruers said “a collaborative approach among like-minded democratic countries is needed to combat growing government threats to the open Internet,” and the tech sector is ready for partnership. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation raised concerns about opening the door for the EU to export its “innovation-limiting policy regime.” The declaration “should be scaled back considerably to address what are principally cross-border issues, such as cybersecurity, cross-border data flows and data localization,” as well as a commitment to trustworthy infrastructure and nondiscrimination, said Senior Policy Analyst Ashley Johnson.
If the D.C. Superior Court doesn’t reconsider dismissing an antitrust complaint against Amazon, it risks jeopardizing antitrust enforcement in the district, DOJ argued Wednesday in 2021 CA 001775 B (see 2204140051). D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (D) sued Amazon, claiming that through its significant market power, it set agreements with merchants that artificially inflate prices on the platform. Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo orally dismissed Racine’s complaint at a hearing last month. The dismissal focused on irrelevant details, DOJ argued, saying the “only question for the Court to resolve at the motion-to-dismiss stage is whether the District has sufficiently alleged the agreements are unreasonable, and the Court’s analysis should properly focus on this inquiry.”
Congress should reject antitrust bills gaining momentum that would have economy-wide harms, a dozen tech and industry groups wrote Wednesday. Signers included the Computer and Communications Industry Association, CTA, TechNet, U.S. Hispanic Business Council, NetChoice, Software & Information Industry Association and Americans for Prosperity. They cited the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S. 2992/HR-3816), Ending Platform Monopolies Act (HR-3825) and the Platform Competition and Opportunity Act (HR-3826). They noted a study from the National Economic Research Associates saying those bills would “cost the U.S. economy up to $319 billion” due to higher retail costs and loss of “valued services.” The bills have “no quantifiable benefits” for consumers or small businesses, they said, quoting the study. Analysis shows the use of “simplistic language that relies on market capitalization means that more American companies would be captured in just a few years: 13 additional companies in the next 5 to 10 years and likely over 100 companies by the 2030s.”
A man convicted of child exploitation had no right to privacy when the government seized his Facebook and Yahoo messaging data in the case, a 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Wednesday in 20-50052. The panel rejected an argument from defendant Carsten Igor Rosenow that the Stored Communications Act and the Protect Our Children Act transformed the platform searches into government action. It also rejected his argument that government involvement in the platforms’ searches triggered a Fourth Amendment violation. Rosenow consented to the platforms “honoring preservation requests from law enforcement under” their terms of use, the court said. Judge Danielle Forrest filed the opinion with Judge Consuelo Callahan. Judge Susan Graber dissented, questioning whether Yahoo acted as a government instrument or agent. Yahoo’s motivation to conduct the searches was “intertwined with, and dependent on, the government’s enforcement of criminal laws,” she wrote. Rosenow was arrested after returning from a sex tourism trip involving minors in the Philippines.
Twitter’s board members should preserve all records related to Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter (see 2204210038), House Judiciary Committee Republicans wrote the company Friday. This includes Twitter’s response to the offer and its evaluation of shareholder interests, the letter said. Online free speech is under attack from Big Tech, they wrote: Twitter’s decisions will be “consequential for public discourse” and “could give rise to renewed efforts to legislate in furtherance of preserving free expression online.” The company declined comment.
The U.S. launched multilateral privacy negotiations with Canada, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced Thursday. The countries established the Global Cross-Border Privacy Rules Forum, the start of cross-border negotiations to set rules and privacy recognition for processors systems. Raimondo said the “first-of-their-kind data privacy certifications” will help companies “demonstrate compliance with internationally recognized data privacy standards.” The forum will “facilitate trade and international data flows and promote global cooperation, building on our shared data privacy values while recognizing the differences in our domestic approaches to protecting data privacy,” she said.
Elon Musk has secured $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter (see 2204150051), the Tesla CEO said Thursday in an SEC filing. Morgan Stanley committed $25.5 billion, and Musk will put up $21 billion, according to the filing.
Texas has until May 10 to respond to Twitter’s request for a rehearing in the company’s lawsuit against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s investigation into Twitter’s decision to suspend then-President Donald Trump for his actions linked to the Jan. 6 Capitol siege (see 2204120056), said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday in 21-15869. Twitter requested rehearing March 30 after a federal judge in California dismissed the lawsuit, calling it “premature.”
Sierra Wireless announced a new partnership with Orange Wholesale France to bolster its access to global networks and expand connectivity coverage across Europe. Access to a wide range of radio technologies, including low-power wide-area and LTE networks, “allows customers with the new offer to enable a variety of use cases regardless of data usage,” said Sierra Tuesday.
Florida’s legislature should use its special session to amend the state’s social media censorship law so Disney isn’t exempted (see 2203250048 and 2202160012), Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Tuesday. The governor announced various actions aimed at removing special districts and privileges for Disney in Florida in response to the company’s opposition to HB-1557, Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law. The state’s social media law is tied up in a legal battle with the tech industry. NetChoice, which is suing Florida with the Computer and Communications Industry Association, said the Florida law is unconstitutional because it undermines the First Amendment, not because of special treatment for Disney, said Vice President Carl Szabo: “Regardless of whether the Florida legislature takes out the Disney exemption, the law is still flagrantly a violation of the First Amendment.”