Social media companies have a Jan. 1 deadline for reporting their content moderation policies to the New York Attorney General's Office, it said Thursday as it announced that the online portal for submitting those reports is open. The Stop Hiding Hate Act, signed into law in December, requires social media companies to submit terms of service reports to the AG's office, and report on the steps taken and on flagged or actioned items of content. “With violence and polarization on the rise, social media companies must ensure that their platforms don’t fuel hateful rhetoric and disinformation,” said AG Letitia James (D).
Social Media
Social media platforms are facing intense scrutiny over how they collect, share and monetize user data. As new state and federal laws focus on age verification, parental controls and transparency requirements, social media companies face legal risks around algorithmic targeting, third-party tracking and children's safety. This page follows key legislation, investigations and lawsuits shaping privacy practices for major social platforms.
The Senate Commerce Committee is eyeing November dates for an FCC oversight hearing that will likely feature heated confrontations between panel Democrats and commission Chairman Brendan Carr over his media regulatory actions, congressional aides and lobbyists told us. The hearing will also include the agency's other Republican, Olivia Trusty, and its lone Democrat, Anna Gomez, lobbyists said. Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has faced pressure from committee Democrats to specifically bring Carr in to answer questions about his mid-September comments against ABC and parent Disney, which were widely perceived as influencing the network’s since-reversed decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air (see 2509220059). Cruz was among several Republicans who also criticized Carr’s comments (see 2509190059).
T-Mobile is expanding its T-Satellite service, which launched in June, to add to the number of apps that will work beyond the range of wireless coverage. “Essential tools like app-based voice and video chat, mapping, weather and social media sharing, among others, are now part of the T-Satellite experience,” the carrier said Wednesday. “We’re talking about unleashing the most loved and cherished features of the app experience.” In the case of WhatsApp, “T-Satellite users can now use voice and video chat with other WhatsApp users over satellite … You can now talk live, even video chat, and send voice memos to friends, family, co-workers … anywhere you can see the sky.”
Broadcasters, MVPD groups and public safety entities largely agree that the FCC's plans to revamp emergency alerting are a good thing, but they differ on the direction they want those plans to take, according to comments filed in docket 25-224 by Thursday’s deadline.
Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast planned to cease preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! and air the show on their ABC affiliates Friday night, said news releases Friday afternoon. A source familiar with the situation told us that Disney made no editorial or content concessions prior to the announcements.
President Donald Trump threatened ABC again Tuesday, the same night that host Jimmy Kimmel returned to the airwaves in most markets and two days after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr denied attempting to intimidate the network. “I think we’re going to test ABC out on this,” Trump said in a post Tuesday night on Truth Social. “Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative.” Trump has threatened ABC and other networks repeatedly for years (see 2410100050).
Nexstar said Tuesday it would join Sinclair in continuing to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live!, despite the show's return to ABC's lineup starting Tuesday night, while FCC Chairman Brendan Carr continued to insist on social media that he didn't cause Kimmel’s suspension.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s use of agency threats against Disney, ABC and local broadcasters on Wednesday led to Jimmy Kimmel Live! being pulled from the air within hours, and Carr is widely expected to keep repeating the tactic, academics and attorneys said in interviews Thursday.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Tuesday that he’s generally satisfied with how Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is playing out and raised doubts about whether the agency will plow further into the issue. The debate over Section 230 “is still alive,” but given changes by social media companies, Carr is in a “trust-but-verify posture,” he said at a Politico summit focused on AI.
Ten Senate Republicans want to mitigate parts of the GOP’s compromise on a spectrum pipeline framework, adopted in July via the budget reconciliation package, amid an ongoing push to excise language in the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (S-2296) that would give the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman authority to veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45, 7 and 8 GHz bands (see 2509100064).