Attorneys general of California, Nebraska, Washington and Wisconsin are among the 24 officials U.S. AG Jeff Sessions invited to a Sept. 25 discussion on social media (see 1809110041). Offices for Nebraska’s Doug Peterson (R), Washington’s Bob Ferguson (D) and Wisconsin’s Brad Schimel (R) told us Friday they were invited. Ferguson and Schimel are reviewing scheduling obligations to see if they can attend. We checked with all states' chief law enforcers.
Karl Herchenroeder
Karl Herchenroeder, Associate Editor, is a technology policy journalist for publications including Communications Daily. Born in Rockville, Maryland, he joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2018. He began his journalism career in 2012 at the Aspen Times in Aspen, Colorado, where he covered city government. After that, he covered the nuclear industry for ExchangeMonitor in Washington. You can follow Herchenroeder on Twitter: @karlherk
Evidence suggests the U.S. economy has become more concentrated and less competitive in the past 20 to 30 years, and that trend deserves “serious attention,” FTC Chairman Joe Simons said Thursday. This correlates with the shift to a less enforcement-oriented antitrust policy beginning in the early 1980s, he said, opening the agency’s first day of hearings on antitrust and consumer protection policy (see 1809120040). Friday’s was postponed due to weather concerns, as was a congressional hearing (see 1809130035).
Growing data privacy concerns and FTC Chairman Joe Simons’ decision to model hearings after pivotal events in 1995 suggest the agency is on the verge of a turning point, former officials and industry attorneys told us. It kicks off a series of public hearings on antitrust and consumer protection policy Thursday (see 1808240027).
Three Republican state attorney general offices -- in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas -- told us they are poised to collaborate with U.S. AG Jeff Sessions on tech industry antitrust concerns and claims of conservative bias (see 1809070042). Democrats from New York and Massachusetts and a North Dakota Republican office said they won't be attending DOJ's Sept. 25 meeting, with the latter citing a scheduling conflict. Of all 50 state AG offices queried, 17 of the 21 that responded said they haven't received an invitation. Justice didn’t comment.
Congress should take DOJ’s advice on alleged anticompetitive behavior from big tech before heavily regulating the industry, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, told us Thursday. Justice said Wednesday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions will meet with state attorneys general this month to explore the issue (see 1809050057), days after President Donald Trump warned Google and Silicon Valley about violating antitrust law. “I’d rather get [DOJ] advice before Congress decides to declare [industry] a regulated utility, which I think would be a disaster,” Cornyn said.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden will subpoena Google if necessary to get a top executive to testify, the Oregon Republican told us Thursday. A day earlier, the platform was criticized for its absence at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing (see 1809050057). “Someday, we will have the Google execs in just like we had [Facebook CEO Mark] Zuckerberg, just like we had [Twitter CEO Jack] Dorsey," Walden said. "We’re just going to continue to march right through, and obviously we have tools to get there if we have to use them. We shouldn’t have to use them.”
Twitter is considering releasing historical data to increase transparency about account takedown and suspension decisions, CEO Jack Dorsey told the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday. Dorsey, at a hearing with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, said the platform might expand its transparency report to include archived suspension data. Transparency is key to calming concerns, he said.
Facebook and Twitter will use Wednesday’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing (see 1808300043) to highlight progress made combating Russian influence and other perceived bad actors. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is to testify alongside Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who also will appear by himself at a House Commerce Committee afternoon hearing (see 1808290054). Senate Intelligence leadership, who invited Alphabet CEO Larry Page, declined subsidiary Google’s offer to send Senior Vice President-Global Affairs Kent Walker. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai also continued his scrutiny against such platforms.
It’s ironic Donald Trump attacked Google and online platforms last week over alleged conservative bias (see 1808280055) because he owes his 2016 victory to social media amplifying campaign messages, CTA Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Michael Petricone told us Friday. A media group executive, various scholars and a tech expert agreed the president’s complaint wasn't credible.
The Senate Intelligence Committee declined Google’s offer to send Senior Vice President-Global Affairs Kent Walker to testify at a hearing next week alongside executives from Facebook and Twitter (see 1808290059), a committee aide said Thursday. Walker testified before the committee in November, and lawmakers sought a senior-level decision-maker when inviting Alphabet CEO Larry Page to the hearing, the aide said. “While the committee expressed willingness to consider other senior executives, to date the company has not confirmed a senior leadership official to testify.” Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg will testify on foreign influence on social media. The aide cited remarks from Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., saying if Google senior leadership “chooses not to be part of the solution to this pressing national security threat, that is their decision to make. However, it is the committee’s hope that they will decide to participate in next week’s hearing.” Google didn’t comment.