First Amendment questions are lingering when it comes to censoring online chatbots, even when they encourage users to kill themselves, a tech industry executive told the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee Wednesday. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., pressed Information Technology Industry Council General Counsel John Miller about an online user who took his life after interacting with an online chatbot that encouraged him to do so. Hawley argued individuals and their families, including parents of young users, should be able to sue tech companies for such incidents. Miller said companies don’t want chatbots “doing those sorts of things,” but AI is responsible for a lot of good. The technology has been useful in cancer research, for example, he said. Asked if companies should be sued for AI's negative impacts, Miller said, “Under the current law, that’s probably not allowable,” alluding to Communications Decency Act Section 230, which has enabled technological innovation and which the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld, Miller said. Hawley asked Miller if he would support legislation the senator sponsored with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the No Section 230 Immunity for AI Act. The proposed law would clarify that Section 230 doesn’t apply to claims based on generative AI activity (see 2306150059). Miller said he hasn’t reviewed the bill but argued there are “other equities at play in this discussion,” including the First Amendment. Hawley asked Miller if a chatbot encouraging a teenager to kill himself is First Amendment-protected speech: “Is that your position?” Miller said it’s not his position, but “I don’t think the question’s been resolved.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D), Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker (R) and more than 170 other U.S. cities' leaders urged House and Senate leaders Tuesday to “renew and extend” funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program, which is expected to exhaust its current $14.2 billion allocation in April. Last week, the FCC began initial steps to wind down ACP, with the Wireline Bureau declaring it would freeze new enrollments Feb. 8 (see 2401110072). Also, last week, a group of lawmakers filed the ACP Extension Act (HR-6929/S-3565) in a bid to infuse $7 billion for FY 2024 into the program (see 2401100056). ACP “has been a key tool in our efforts to eliminate the digital divide in America” since Congress first authorized it via the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and it “has wide support,” the U.S. Conference of Mayors said in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and their respective minority leaders. “From Democrats to Republicans, to rural and urban areas, to the telecommunications industry and all levels of government,” ACP “is recognized by all as successful.” Extending the program “will help close the digital divide, allow Americans to access the resources they need, and strengthen the U.S. economy to compete in the 21st Century,” the mayors said in the letter.

Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., and Senate Agriculture Rural Development Subcommittee Chairman Peter Welch, D-Vt., led filing Wednesday of the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act to give the initiative stopgap funding through the rest of the year, as expected (see 2401090074). The measure would allocate ACP $7 billion for FY 2024, mirroring an earlier draft of the measure Clarke circulated in recent weeks. The FCC estimates the program could exhaust its original $14.2 billion appropriation in April. Congress’ appetite for providing the program more money remains in question given misgivings among top Republicans on the House and Senate Commerce committees (see 2312210074), although several Republicans signed on as ACP Extension Act sponsors at filing: Sen. J.D. Vance (Ohio), Sen. Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), and New York Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro. The measure “provides a transformative opportunity to bridge the gap of the digital divide for communities of color, urban and rural families, and so many more underserved Americans,” Clarke said in a statement. “Access to high-speed internet isn’t a luxury anymore, it’s a necessity,” Welch said. “That’s why it’s never been so important to avoid this funding cliff and extend the ACP.” Welch’s office cited support from more than 400 companies, groups and other entities, including FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and her fellow Democratic Commissioners Anna Gomez and Geoffrey Starks. In addition, several major ISPs and related industry groups are backing the measure: AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Cox Communications, Incompas, NTCA, T-Mobile, USTelecom, Verizon, Wireless Infrastructure Association and WTA. Others supporting the ACP Extension Act: the AFL-CIO, American Civil Liberties Union, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Communications Workers of America, Fiber Broadband Association, Free Press, NAACP, Pew Charitable Trusts and Public Knowledge.

Just five telecom providers in the FCC's Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program filed a final certification, which indicates the "recipient has 'permanently removed from its communications network, replaced, and disposed of (or is in the process of permanently removing, replacing, and disposing of)'" all suspect Huawei and ZTE equipment, the commission told Congress Friday. Lawmakers have eyed legislative vehicles that could allocate an additional $3.1 billion, ensuring full reimbursement of rip-and-replace participants' costs, but haven't reached a deal yet (see 2311070050). Rip-and-replace participants "are continuing to work toward permanently removing, replacing, and disposing of the covered communications equipment and services in their networks," the FCC said in a report. "Recipients continue to indicate, however, that they are facing certain challenges that may hinder their ability to complete that work, both in general and within the time allowed by the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act" and related FCC rules. "Roughly 47% of recipients indicated in their most recent status updates that lack of funding continues to be an obstacle to completing the permanent removal, replacement, and disposal of the covered communications equipment and services in their networks in their entirety, an increase from the 39% that had reported this when" the FCC communicated to Congress in July, the commission said: "Approximately 19% of recipients reported that they will be unable to finish the removal, replacement, and disposal process unless additional funding is provided." About 26% of recipients "contend that an extended period of time needed by the Fund Administrator to review Reimbursement Claims is also a challenge," the FCC said. Review times "have expanded primarily as a result of an increase in the number of claims submitted and the insufficiency of the information included in the claim." In addition, recipients cited supply chain issues and labor shortages as delay factors, the FCC said. By the end of December, the FCC received 12,983 reimbursement claims “across 122 of the 126 applications approved for a funding allocation.” The FCC said it has approved $396.5 million in disbursements to recipients and "granted eleven recipients’ requests for an extension of the one-year deadline to complete" the rip-and-replace process. "The deadlines now range from October 10, 2023 to November 16, 2024," the FCC said.

Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Quectel pushed back Friday against the House China Committee’s call for DOD and the Treasury Department to blacklist it over ties to the Chinese government, Huawei and ZTE. House China Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Calif., urged Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Thursday to act on new information about Quectel's “multiple affiliations” with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the company’s collaborations with Huawei and ZTE. Those ties should qualify Quectel to appear on DOD’s blacklist of Chinese military-affiliated companies and Treasury’s similar “Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List,” the House China leaders wrote Austin and Yellen. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi asked the FCC last year about the threat Quectel and Chinese gearmaker Fibocom posed to U.S. IoT devices (see 2308080059). “We are disappointed to see continued and false allegations from” House China about Quectel’s “supposed cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party” and the Chinese military, Quectel Wireless Solutions President Norbert Muhrer said Friday. “We are an independent company publicly traded on the Shanghai stock exchange that operates internationally.” The company “maintains the highest industry standards of security and data privacy,” Muhrer said, noting its products are designed only for civil and commercial use cases: “We comply with all U.S. and international export control and sanctions laws. We do not sell to any person or entity in Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria or Crimea, nor do we sell to military manufacturers anywhere.” Even “if Quectel were placed on the lists,” as House China leaders are asking, “the only impact would be to block U.S. investments in Quectel securities,” Muhrer said. “Quectel would not be barred from selling any of its products, in other words would not be blacklisted.”

The FCC should “take immediate action” on two petitions against radio stations airing programming from Russia-sponsored news channel Radio Sputnik, said a letter to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel from Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich. The petitions were filed in 2022 on behalf of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. Smithwick and Belendiuk broadcast attorney Arthur Belendiuk prepared the filings against the two stations, which broadcast to the Washington, D.C., area. The petitions ask the FCC to hold license hearing proceedings on WZHF (AM) Capitol Heights, Maryland, and a Reston, Virginia, translator that rebroadcasts WZHF's signal (see 2203230054). “The programming being broadcast does not represent the views and interests of the audience the stations have been licensed to serve,” wrote Bergman. “It is Russian propaganda, bought and paid for by a hostile foreign government.” The FCC hasn’t responded to the petitions, but it also hasn’t granted the license renewal applications of other stations owned by WZHF owners Arthur and Yvonne Liu, said their attorney Mark Lipp of Fletcher Heald. Bergman called out the Radio Sputnik broadcasts for characterizing Ukrainians as Nazis and for “antisemitic tropes” connected with the Israel-Hamas conflict. The stations “have stated that Hamas was justified in its attacks, that Israel is guilty of war crimes and that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,” Bergman wrote. The letter doesn’t cite specific programming, making it difficult for WZHF’s owners to look into or address the allegations, Lipp said. “It certainly doesn’t sound like something the station would air,” Lipp added. “UCCA and its members deserve a definitive answer. The issues raised in these petitions are serious and merit the FCC’s prompt attention and response,” Bergman’s letter said.

The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Jan. 11 hearing on the subject of improving U.S. communications networks’ cybersecurity, the Commerce Committee said Thursday. “Every day, there are more than 2,200 cyberattacks" on U.S. communications infrastructure and many "originate from foreign adversaries, like communist China, that exploit vulnerabilities in our networks and compromise our national security,” said House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Communications Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

House Commerce Committee member Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, will resign effective Jan. 21 to become Youngstown State University president, the college's board said Tuesday. A former House Communications Subcommittee member, Johnson previously said he wouldn't run for reelection (see 2311220053). Johnson was active on telehealth and spectrum policy issues, including as lead sponsor of the House-passed Advanced, Local Emergency Response Telecommunications Parity Act (HR-1353), which would require the FCC to allow satellite direct-to-cell service providers and others to apply to access spectrum to fill in wireless coverage gaps in unserved areas specifically to provide connectivity for emergency services (see 2304270001).

Wireless Infrastructure Association President Patrick Halley praised President Joe Biden Wednesday night for signing the 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement Act (S-2787) (see 2312200061). Yet Halley said he believes it’s “imperative that Congress” follow that stopgap measure with a long-term renewal of the FCC’s lapsed auction authority. The House passed the 5G act measure last week (see 2312110062), giving the FCC authority for 90 days to issue the 2.5 GHz licenses. Lawmakers viewed it as a stopgap measure, required after months of stalled Capitol Hill talks on a broader legislative package that would renew the FCC’s lapsed general auction authority (see 2312040001). “Anything less” than a “long-term reauthorization” will “continue to hamper the advancement of America’s mobile communications and put us in the competitive backseat against China and other global competitors,” Halley said.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Wednesday he is withholding support for FTC nominee Andrew Ferguson until the nominee's policy views are better known (see 2312190082). In a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Hawley said the Republican Conference risks “giving away too much” in a proposed year-end confirmations package with Democrats. The package includes dozens of Democratic nominees and “just a few Republican appointees,” he said. Moreover, Republicans need additional time to carefully evaluate FTC commissioner hopeful Ferguson and National Transportation Safety Board nominee Todd Inman, he said, citing open questions about Ferguson’s views on Big Tech. Ferguson and Inman are former McConnell aides. “I am currently withholding my consent for these nominees to be confirmed without a floor vote -- as is any senator’s right to do -- until I and others can evaluate satisfactory responses to these important policy questions,” Hawley wrote. The senator said he wants to meet the nominees to discuss their views on questions he appended to his letter. Offices for McConnell and Ferguson didn’t comment Wednesday.