The Senate Commerce Committee is considering a potential markup for bipartisan children’s privacy legislation introduced last week (see 2202160055), Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday.
Expect the Senate Commerce Committee to mark up bipartisan legislation introduced Wednesday that’s meant to improve child safety online, Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and ranking member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told reporters.
Legislation introduced Thursday would require social media companies to “provide vetted, independent researchers and the public with access to certain platform data.” Introduced by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Chris Coons, D-Del., the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act is intended to increase transparency into companies’ internal data, which was a focus of the recent Facebook whistleblower testimony. Independent researchers would submit proposals to the National Science Foundation, and if approved, the companies would have to provide the “necessary data subject to certain privacy protections.”
House Commerce Committee Democrats sent draft privacy bill language to Republicans last week in hopes the two sides can reach agreement in the near future, said Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. Updates were made on the bipartisan staff discussion draft, which the two sides have been negotiating since last Congress, he said. Democrats are “confident” the two sides can work together and reach agreement, said Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who hosted Thursday’s hearing on Big Tech issues.
Numerous House Commerce Committee members repeated calls for bipartisan action to revise Communications Decency Act Section 230 during a Wednesday Communications Subcommittee hearing, but remain far apart on the details. The proposals “aren’t identical,” but the process could lead to “bipartisan work,” said committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on this issue,” said Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., seeks bipartisan recommendations for updating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, she told us last week. Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said they’re trying to reach bipartisan consensus.
Facebook misled the public on how it controls a proprietary algorithm in an effort to “boost its stock and deceive shareholders,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) alleged in a lawsuit announced Monday. Facebook and senior executives violated federal securities laws by “purposely misleading the public about the negative effects its products have on the health and well-being of children and the steps the company has taken to protect the public,” the state argued, citing findings in September news reports and testimony from whistleblower Frances Haugen (see 2110050062). Yost filed the suit for the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and Facebook investors. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and company executives knew they were making false statements, Yost said in the announcement, citing internal documents showing the company said: "We are not actually doing what we say we do publicly." Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., previously called for investigation into securities fraud (see 2110260070). "This suit is without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously," a Meta spokesperson emailed Monday.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., told us he’s going to continue to press for progress on major tech and telecom legislation during the remainder of this Congress rather than coast toward retirement, after his October announcement he won’t run for re-election (see 2110180043). Doyle concedes progress on net neutrality legislation, a top issue since he became lead Communications Democrat in 2017, may not happen before he retires. Communications Vice Chair Doris Matsui of California and two other members -- Reps. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Yvette Clarke of New York -- confirmed to us they’re considering whether they would like to succeed Doyle as the subpanel’s lead Democrat.
The Senate should move quickly to confirm Jonathan Kanter as DOJ Antitrust Division chief so he can fill leadership gaps at the department, antitrust attorneys said in interviews. Some expect Kanter to get a 2021 vote, given support from the Senate Judiciary Committee last week (see 2110280044).
YouTube, TikTok and Snap agreed to share internal research with the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee, the companies' representatives told a hearing Tuesday. Chair Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told us he’s going to hold them to that promise and use the findings to develop a full picture in pursuit of legislation.