Big Tech’s entry into payment services could strengthen platform monopoly power, FTC Chair Lina Khan and consumer advocates told the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in comments last week.
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
The White House is compiling a shortlist of priority candidates to renominate in 2022 (see our bulletin here), an official in the executive office confirmed Wednesday. This will include “important, noncontroversial” candidates to be sent to the Senate as soon as possible, a former federal official said. The administration “will have more in the coming weeks on who is on the list,” the White House official said.
All pending nominees will need to be renominated in 2022, a White House official said Monday. That includes FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya, FCC nominee Gigi Sohn and NTIA nominee Alan Davidson.
The White House is compiling a shortlist of priority candidates to renominate in 2022, an official in the executive office confirmed Wednesday. The list could include noncontroversial candidates to be sent to the Senate as soon as possible.
Legislation is needed to ensure domain name registries and registrars are cooperating with federal agencies combating illegal online activity, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told us last week before introducing a bipartisan bill with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Their Domain Reform for Unlawful Drug Sellers (DRUGS) Act (S.3399) would give the FDA the authority to “suspend websites run by criminal networks that traffic” illegal drugs.
Google and Apple are using their app store monopolies to favor themselves, resulting in lower quality for consumers, Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Democrats and Republicans agreed during a hearing Wednesday.
DOJ is weighing the enforcement potential around AI-related discriminatory practices, Assistant Attorney General-Civil Rights Kristen Clarke said Tuesday. The Civil Rights Division is bolstering AI enforcement, education, outreach and interagency coordination, Clarke told an NTIA listening session. AI has potential to perpetuate historical discrimination against marginalized communities through the use of web browsing activity, social media and app usage, she said: Consumer data is fed into “specialized algorithms” used to make critical decisions impacting everyday lives, including employment, banking, law enforcement, housing, credit and more. She called the intersection of AI and civil rights a “rapidly evolving policy and legislative landscape.”
Legislators plan to attach cyber incident reporting language to a legislative vehicle in the near future, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., told us last week after bipartisan language was dropped from the National Defense Authorization Act (see 2112070067). The office for Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., denied Democrats’ claims that Republican “dysfunction” led to a bipartisan agreement falling apart last-minute.
FCC nominee Gigi Sohn said her connection to Locast won’t affect her views on broadcast issues, in her written responses to the Senate Commerce Committee. She promised to operate in an independent and fair manner on all issues if confirmed.
House Commerce Committee Democrats sent draft privacy bill language to Republicans last week in hopes the two sides can reach agreement in the near future, said Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. Updates were made on the bipartisan staff discussion draft, which the two sides have been negotiating since last Congress, he said. Democrats are “confident” the two sides can work together and reach agreement, said Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who hosted Thursday’s hearing on Big Tech issues.