It’s unlikely the FTC has motivation or authority to police social media companies for conduct President Donald Trump cited in his executive order (see 2005290058), compliance attorneys said in interviews this week. Some noted that comments from Commissioners Christine Wilson and Rohit Chopra suggest bipartisan interest in examining social media algorithms.
Section 230
Take a “fresh look at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and clearly define the criteria for which companies can receive protections,” four Senate Republicans wrote the FCC Tuesday. The letter, from Sens. Marco Rubio, Fla.; Kelly Loeffler, Ga.; Josh Hawley, Mo.; and Kevin Cramer, N.D., cites “recent troubling activities by social media companies, including partisan attempts to silence political speech and efforts to silence critics of the Chinese Communist Party.” President Donald Trump's executive order (see 2006040056) directs NTIA to petition the FCC for a rulemaking to clarify the scope of Section 230. The FCC didn’t comment.
Technology Policy Institute promotes Lindsay Poss to also be director-communications, newly created post; she continues as research analyst ... Squire Patton separates from Trent Lott, ex-Senate Commerce Committee Republican who participated in some telecom issues ... Among summer interns in office of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is Joe Kane, an ex-R Street Institute tech policy fellow on track to graduate from law school in 2022.
The FCC may wait a bit before taking up any NTIA petition for rulemaking to clarify the scope of the tech industry’s liability shield (see 2005290058), observers predicted in interviews this week. The Association of National Advertisers said it’s ready to defend marketers’ interests if threatened. A tech industry representative and academics told us President Donald Trump’s executive order last week sets a dangerous precedent and could compromise independent agencies.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai questioned Twitter’s policies, as the platform for a second day flagged President Donald Trump’s tweets (see 2005280060). Pai asked Friday whether tweets from Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei violate platform rules about glorifying violence, rules that Twitter cited in flagging Trump.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that would remove liability protections for online platforms that censure or edit content (see 2005270016). There would be a role for antitrust agencies and the FCC, whose commissioners reacted along party lines to the EO. “We’re here today to defend free speech from one of the greatest dangers,” Trump said, claiming tech monopolies have “unchecked power” to censor and restrict human interaction.
The House Homeland Security Committee will focus more on encryption and locked phones, House Intelligence and Counterterrorism Subcommittee Chairman Max Rose, D-N.Y., said Wednesday. During a subcommittee webcast, he said he doesn’t “love” the idea of terrorists communicating through encrypted platforms and police not having immediate access to such an alleged criminal's phone after an attack.
Facebook should take a hands-off approach to content moderation, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told us in arguing the company's new oversight board injects political bias and lets the platform avoid responsibility. Carr criticized the board in a series of tweets, calling it Facebook "speech police" and arguing most members have left-leaning bias. Facebook and several board members didn’t comment Tuesday.
Without Section 230, frivolous lawsuits would create an insurmountable cost of doing business, and companies like Yelp wouldn’t exist, Senior Vice President-Public Policy Luther Lowe said during an interview with C-SPAN's The Communicators, to have been televised over the weekend. If Google and Facebook didn’t exist, there wouldn’t be such scrutiny on Section 230 of Communications Decency Act, he said. He suggested lawmakers think of other public policy tools to address the abuse of dominance, saying Yelp opposes any “radical approach” to CDA 230: “It is an axiomatic, foundational necessity for the internet as we know it to exist.” Because of COVID-19, all Yelp employees are working remotely, he said, saying the biggest industry impact is on small businesses. Lowe wants more meaningful relief for small businesses in Congress’ relief packages, anticipating a multi-month, devastating impact.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling for Google and its YouTube subsidiary in Prager University's lawsuit (see 2002260046) leaves open the broader issue of how courts will treat online platforms as speakers, Wiley lawyers Megan Brown, Boyd Garriott and Jeremy Broggi blogged Wednesday for the Washington Legal Foundation. The Supreme Court's Manhattan Community Access v. Halleck decision left the door open to the court finding sufficient state action in future First Amendment cases, they said. With doctrine unsettled, some platforms are focusing on self-regulation, they said. They said the Communications Decency Act's Section 230 immunity could go away in the face of bipartisan criticism and DOJ saying it's looking at ways of paring it back.