Three Massachusetts-based sex-abuse survivor groups are drafting a letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., criticizing her bill directing a federal study of 2018 anti-sex-trafficking legislation (see 1912170041). Warren introduced the bill with Reps. Ro Khanna and Barbara Lee, both California Democrats, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. It would direct a study of the small percentage of consensual sex workers who claim a 2018 anti-sex trafficking law made their lives less safe and their trade more difficult, Living in Freedom Together (LIFT) CEO Nikki Bell told us. Some 200 survivors signed the draft letter, she said. The House version of the bill is HR-5448.
Section 230
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, welcomed Facebook’s announcement it will remove misleading platform content about the U.S. census (see 1912190059). Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said more needs to be done.
Draft legislation from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., would require tech companies to earn liability protection against civil lawsuits involving child sex abuse material, said a committee aide. Graham and Blumenthal have been negotiating legislation that would force companies to follow best business practices to earn certain liability protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (see 1910210067). As drafted, the bill could open up violators to civil lawsuits from victims of child sex abuse material hosted on platforms. Asked Thursday if a website that hosts child pornography should be subject to civil action, Graham told us, “That’s what 230 is all about. The thrust of the bill is that to get liability protections, you’ve got to earn them, you’ve got to do best business practices.” Blumenthal declined comment on bill specifics.
Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, are trying to formulate a proposal on the tech industry’s content liability shield, they told us Wednesday. Schatz previously announced plans to roll out legislation on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (see 1909120058).
DOJ Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim drew attention Monday to Attorney General William Barr’s recent questioning whether the tech industry’s content liability immunity is working as intended. Speaking at the Hudson Institute, Delrahim referenced Barr’s comments questioning application of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (see 1912110063).
Senate Republicans are eager to pass the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, despite reservations about including language shielding the tech industry from content liability. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced an agreement with the White House on USMCA Tuesday (see 1912100012). Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said that chamber will consider the trade pact in 2020 (see 1912100015).
Apple and Google need to voluntarily provide better device access, or Congress will force them to alter encryption standards and accommodate lawful police searches, Senate Judiciary Committee members from both parties said Tuesday. The panel and representatives from Apple and Facebook debated end-to-encryption during a Tuesday hearing, at which law enforcement slammed Apple’s decision in 2014 to engineer devices in a way that effectively blocks police access.
Facebook supports industry setting content moderation standards, said Public Policy Manager Lori Moylan Friday. Speaking at a George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School event, she said companies should collaboratively define terms like manipulated media and deepfake.
The Senate Commerce Committee will consider multiple privacy proposals at a hearing expected after Thanksgiving, Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told reporters this week. Wicker continues to negotiate with ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., on one: “I think we’re close. We’re working hard.” Divulging the exact proposals to be considered at the hearing would be “a bridge too far,” he said.
Senate Judiciary Committee staff is meeting with tech industry officials and others about a child safety-related Section 230 bill, Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told us (see 1907090062). “We’ve had some discussions with the tech community, and with some people on the committee. I don’t want to destroy the social media companies, but they’ve got to be more accountable.”