Offices of state attorneys general leading an antitrust investigation of Google plan to meet in Colorado to determine next steps, a state official told us Tuesday. The gathering could take place Nov. 11, though the date is in flux. Of the 51 AG offices we contacted, Arizona was the only to comment. “As a lead state in the Google antitrust investigation, Arizona is actively involved in all stages of the strategy and execution of the investigation,” a spokesperson emailed. “We will be there.”
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
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.”
FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra warned Congress about the threat of regulatory capture Friday, contending data-rich tech companies wield excessive power. “All too often, the government is too captured by those incumbents who use their power to dictate their preferred policies,” he told the House Antitrust Subcommittee.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia should reject the FTC’s $5 billion privacy settlement with Facebook (see 1908060022) because the deal’s release from liability is too broad, consumer groups argued Tuesday. Public Citizen, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Common Sense Media and U.S. Public Interest Research Group filed (in Pacer) an amicus brief (in Pacer) in opposition to the agency’s consent decree. The settlement releases Facebook from claims prior to June 12 that the company violated a 2012 commission order and any FTC Act Section 5-related claims the agency was aware of before the same date. “Because of the release clause’s breadth, the proposed consent decree was not fair or reasonable and should be rejected by the court,” the groups argue. The Electronic Privacy Information Center's brief (in Pacer) argued the deal's “both procedurally and substantively unfair and must be rejected due to the expansive and vague release of liability granted.” The Center for the Legalization of Privacy in a third opposition brief said (in Pacer) the FTC order can be interpreted to grant the FTC and DOJ warrantless access to Facebook user data.
House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., “largely” agrees the tech industry should have to earn its content liability protection. After Wednesday’s hearing on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (see 1910150058), she told reporters it’s important Congress finds the best way to ensure content is “managed appropriately.”
Even minor changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act could have “outsized consequences” for the tech industry and consumers, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman plans to testify Wednesday. Consumer advocates and academics prepared testimony blaming the industry for not doing enough to combat illegal platform activity. House Commerce Committee lawmakers meet Wednesday to discuss the industry’s content liability shield (see 1910090059).
The FTC’s lawsuit against Qualcomm has observers debating whether the agency is properly applying antitrust authority in a case with major implications for the tech industry (see 1908230057). The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering oral argument in early 2020.
Congress should consider legislation to require social media platforms disclose sponsors of political advertisements, the Senate Intelligence Committee reported Tuesday on a two-year investigation on Russia’s 2016 election meddling. The recommendation mirrors the Honest Ads Act (S-1356), from Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Mark Warner, D-Va.; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. (see 1905080075). The bill would require online political ads have the “same transparency and disclosure requirements as ads sold on TV, radio and satellite.” The report recommended the executive branch “publicly reinforce the danger of attempted foreign interference in the 2020 election,” through an interagency task force to monitor social media and public media literacy initiatives. Social media companies should facilitate more public-private information-sharing, the panel said.
A federal privacy law shouldn’t be “less strict” than any existing state law, a National Association of Attorneys General official said Tuesday. Based on Congress’ progress, it doesn’t seem there will be a federal law in effect by January, when the California Consumer Privacy Act takes effect, said NAG Training and Research Institute Center for Consumer Protection program counsel Blake Bee. So industry will need to comply with a patchwork of laws, he told a New America event.
The FTC doesn’t intend to weaken Obama-era changes to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, Commissioner Christine Wilson said Monday at the agency’s COPPA workshop. Republican colleague Noah Phillips defended the innovation and economic growth spurred by the rule. The agency’s COPPA review (see 1910040026) isn’t an attempt to roll back 2013 changes to the children’s online privacy rule, and the FTC knows protecting innovation can’t be done at the expense of children, Wilson said. The agency wants to make sure COPPA keeps pace with online technology, she said, citing modern data collection methods and ways children interact with media.