Social Media

The FCC doesn’t have as much power as Chairman Brendan Carr thinks it does and is likely to be corrected by the courts, former FCC Chief Counsel Robert Corn-Revere wrote in a column for the Columbia Journalism Review last week. Framed as a letter to Carr, the column is called “A Plea for Institutional Modesty.” Now chief counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Corn-Revere served under acting FCC Commissioner James Quello, a moderate Democrat. “If I were your adviser, this is not how I would want history to remember you,” Corn-Revere wrote, calling Carr’s first weeks as chairman “jarring” when compared with his past statements as a commissioner on free speech and the role of the FCC. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the FCC’s rules don’t give it authority over the types of programming broadcasters can offer, Corn-Revere noted. “In 2025, any aggressive action by the FCC to regulate broadcast programming would provide an opportunity to challenge whatever remains of the public interest standard as a reason to treat broadcasters differently from other media,” he said. “FCC meddling in editorial decisions regarding political coverage and news judgment would provide an easy case for limiting the FCC’s authority.” Corn-Revere also wrote that Carr can’t get around the limits on FCC authority by exerting informal pressure on entities or “jawboning.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit “is keenly aware that the FCC can abuse its authority in this way and has limited ‘raised eyebrow’ tactics in past cases,” he said, adding that SCOTUS has also recently reaffirmed that government officials violate the First Amendment by using threats to restrict speech. “Bottom line, given your position, writing threatening letters may be enough to get you into constitutional hot water.” Governmental officials “who have tried to use their power to muzzle the press for short-term political gain have not been treated well by history.” You swore an oath "to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States, and you know very well how these things work. You might at least consider not actively reinforcing uninformed social media rants.” The FCC didn’t comment.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, acknowledged Wednesday that newly announced NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth may draw panel Democrats’ ire during her confirmation process over potential changes from the Trump administration and Congress to the $42.5 billion NTIA-administered BEAD program. Senate Commerce advanced commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick to the floor 16-12 Wednesday, as expected (see 2502040056), against near-uniform Democratic opposition aimed in part at his positions on BEAD. The panel also cleared a revised version of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (S-315) and three other tech and telecom bills: the Rural Broadband Protection Act (S-98), Insure Cybersecurity Act (S-245) and Kids Off Social Media Act (S-278).

Law professor Adam Candeub, who was an attorney in the FCC's Media and Common Carrier bureaus as well as acting NTIA head, is returning to the commission as general counsel. Candeub brings with him strong criticisms of Big Tech. In response to a post on X about Candeub not being the GC that Big Tech executives would have preferred, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr replied that the agency "will work to dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights to everyday Americans." He added: "I look forward to Adam Candeub serving as the FCC's General Counsel. He is going to do great things!"

The Senate Commerce Committee said Wednesday night it plans to vote Feb. 5 on commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick, the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (S-315) and three other tech and telecom bills. Lutnick drew criticism from several Senate Commerce Democrats during his Wednesday confirmation hearing after he wouldn’t commit to maintaining NTIA’s approval of some states’ BEAD plans or defy orders by President Donald Trump to withhold program funding (see 2501290047). Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., also criticized Lutnick in a Wednesday night statement, though for unrelated reasons. Senate Commerce’s planned vote on S-315 would come a week after Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., refiled it. The bill, which the House Commerce Committee advanced last year, would require the Department of Transportation to mandate AM radio's inclusion in future automobiles (see 2409180047), mostly affecting electric vehicles. Also on Senate Commerce’s agenda: the Rural Broadband Protection Act (S-98), Insure Cybersecurity Act (S-245) and Kids Off Social Media Act (S-278). The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.

The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) isn't likely to make much headway with the 119th Congress absent a major revamp, tech policy panelists said Wednesday at a Congressional Internet Caucus event, which also featured some panelists disagreeing on the FCC's role in cybersecurity enforcement.

A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok, citing Congress’ “well-supported national security concerns.”

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) expects bipartisan support for a forthcoming bill restricting cellphones in schools. The governor and Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) announced support for that and other kids’ tech bills during a livestreamed press conference Monday. "Social media and cellphones in the hands of young people are fueling a mental health crisis in our state,” said state Sen. Rita Sanders (R), adding that phone usage correlates with lower test scores. The senator’s bill would direct Nebraska’s education department to develop a policy for limiting phone usage in schools.

The full FCC approved five notices of apparent liability against pirate broadcasters proposing a total of $260,000 in penalties, according to NALs in Thursday’s Daily Digest. The NALs were approved 4-1, with Commissioner Nathan Simington dissenting. Simington has said he will dissent from all proceedings involving monetary forfeitures until the FCC responds to the U.S. Supreme Court’s SEC v. Jarkesy decision (see 2409060054). The agency proposed penalties of $60,000 for Carlos Alberto Vazquez of Painesville, Ohio; for Wilfredo Ayala of Hartford, Connecticut; and for Sheldon Morgan of Hartford and his company, Morgan Media. The FCC proposed $40,000 penalties each for James Baran of Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio, and Efrain Gonzalez of Waterbury, Connecticut. All the targets are connected with addresses where Enforcement Bureau field agents measured unauthorized radio broadcasts, and several of the pirate operators posted to social media platforms of videos themselves operating their stations, the NALs said.

Don’t dismiss tech groups’ challenge of a Florida social media law, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association urged the U.S. District Court for Northern Florida this week (Case 4:21-cv-00220). The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled the First Amendment protects social media platforms’ ability to moderate content, sending the tech industry’s suits against Florida and Texas laws back to the lower courts (see 2407010053). In November, CCIA and NetChoice submitted an amended complaint asking the district court to permanently enjoin Florida’s social media law (see 2411040033). However, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) responded by asking the court to dismiss the complaint “for lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim” (see 2411180038). NetChoice and CCIA responded Wednesday that SCOTUS eviscerated Florida’s argument that Facebook and other websites don’t engage in activity that the First Amendment protects when the platforms curate content. “With little left to say about the merits of Plaintiffs’ First Amendment claims, Florida offers a slew of new threshold objections, attacking everything from the way Plaintiffs organized their Amended Complaint to whether Plaintiffs have a cause of action to enjoin the enforcement of an unconstitutional statute. Florida’s arguments are meritless.”

Comcast’s launch of a TV advertising platform that will simplify purchasing ads from several programming networks will enable premium video to better compete with social media companies for ad dollars, said MVPD officials and programmers at a CES panel Wednesday. Companies looking to advertise on premium video channels haven’t historically had “an 'easy' button” for completing those transactions, while companies such as Meta have made such sales very simple, said Mark Marshall, NBCUniversal chairman-global advertising and partnerships. Comcast's new Universal Ads platform will enable companies that hadn’t been able to get ads on national network television to do so, Marshall added. “Joe’s Pizza in New Haven, Connecticut,” has “never had an option to be on Sunday Night Football, and now they can be." Companies such as Fox, NBCU and Warner Bros Discovery don’t compete “at a very granular level” for small and mid-sized business advertising, so banding together to achieve a more competitive scale with social media platforms makes sense, said Fox’s Jeff Collins, president-advertising sales, marketing and brand partnerships. By opening the field of potential advertisers, the new platform could also help address the issue of repeat ads on streaming platforms, said Ryan Gould, executive vice president, sales-streaming, digital and advanced advertising for Warner Bros Discovery.