Uber and Lyft haven’t done enough to prevent their platforms from being used for human trafficking, a bipartisan group of senators wrote the companies Wednesday. They wrote the letter in response to Uber’s announcement it will allow minors to use the service without accompanying adults. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; and Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., signed. “Reports from survivors, advocates, and local law enforcement agencies indicate that apps like Uber and Lyft are increasingly used as vehicles for exploitation,” said Blackburn’s office. The letter said they're “concerned that the measures taken to date are insufficient to address trafficking on the company’s ride-hailing service.” The companies didn’t comment.

The Senate Judiciary Committee should reject a bill that would allow news outlets to negotiate with the tech industry for compensation when platforms like Google and Facebook host news content (see 2306080050), said the Computer & Communications Industry Association Wednesday. The Senate Judiciary Committee could vote on the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act at Thursday's markup, after the bill was held over for a week through standard procedure. The bill “mandates that private companies must carry speech in direct violation of the First Amendment,” CCIA President Matt Schruers said in a statement. “This bill will also hinder the fight against misinformation by forcing digital services to publish and pay producers of dangerous content. Congress should not be interfering in the marketplace of ideas by taxing links and creating cartels.” NAB and the News/Media Alliance pushed for passage (see 2303310047). The bill passed committee 15-7 last Congress.

The House Commerce Committee is scheduling briefings with Meta to understand how Instagram algorithms allegedly drive users to a “vast network of pedophilic content,” Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and ranking member Frank Pallone wrote the company Wednesday. Staff is meeting with researchers from Stanford and the University of Massachusetts to understand who uncovered the activity, they said, citing Wall Street Journal reports. Meta “must be transparent about why this egregious content is allowed on its platform and why its own algorithms promoted it for users to view and engage with,” they said. “It is clear these companies cannot be trusted to protect children on their platforms.” The company didn’t comment.

Artificial intelligence “should be treated with the same urgency as national security, job creation and civil liberties,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday during the first of three Senate briefings on AI (see 2306090046). Two more briefings will follow in July. Tuesday’s briefing focused on the technology’s capabilities, applications, limitations and challenges, said Schumer. The briefing included discussion from Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Antonio Torralba, who focuses on machine learning and AI decision-making. July’s briefings will focus on the near future for AI and national security implications. Schumer thanked Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; and Todd Young, R-Ind., for their collaboration on the briefings. The Senate Human Rights Subcommittee held a hearing Tuesday on AI. Regulating the technology “out of existence” would guarantee that China wins the AI race, said ranking member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.: At the same time, Congress should be careful about how AI technology is deployed in the absence of a federal privacy law.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., praised the FCC Thursday for approving an order clarifying that interoperable videoconferencing services like Zoom and Microsoft Teams must comply with the commission’s accessibility rules under the 2010 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (see 2306080043). Markey and Eshoo noted the FCC’s order mirrors their proposal in the Communications, Video and Technology Accessibility Act, which would require audio descriptions as part of all video, including in broadcasts, cable, streaming and on social media (see 2303100043). “Today’s unanimous vote will ensure that everyone has access to the tools and technologies that are essential to everyday life,” Markey and Eshoo said.

Bipartisan legislation announced Thursday would set certain federal funding and operational bans for drones made in China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba. Introduced by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., the Stemming the Operation of Pernicious and Illicit (STOP Illicit) Drones Act would prohibit the FAA from providing federal funds to companies based in the listed countries. The bill would also bar the FAA and its contractors from “procuring or operating drones produced” in those countries. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has drawn agency attention to the issue in the past (see [RefL2110190051]).

Evidence suggests the FTC took politically motivated enforcement action against Twitter after Elon Musk bought the company, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote FTC Chair Lina Khan Thursday. Jordan’s letter notes Twitter reached a settlement agreement in 2021 with then-acting Chair Rebecca Kelly Slaughter stemming from Twitter’s “self-reported” privacy issue in 2019. The FTC didn’t finalize action against Twitter until May 2022, after Khan became chair and Musk’s plans to buy the company became clear, said Jordan: It appears Slaughter and Khan didn’t “intend to take action against Twitter until Elon Musk's impending acquisition and the political pressure campaign that followed.” The agency confirmed receiving the letter but didn't comment.

The Senate Commerce Committee “has received” required paperwork from the White House on new FCC nominee Anna Gomez and renominated sitting Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday. The panel has been trying to schedule a June hearing on the trio but couldn’t until the Biden administration submitted information (see 2306070073). “We’re going through all” the submitted paperwork now and “will schedule a hearing soon,” she told us: “We’d like to get” pending FAA reauthorization legislation “off the board first.”

A bill that would allow news outlets to negotiate with the tech industry for compensation when platforms like Google and Facebook host news content is back on the Senate Judiciary Committee agenda. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (see 2303310047) was held over during a markup Thursday, meaning it could receive a vote as early as next week. The committee passed the bill 15-7 last Congress. A similar bill is advancing at the state level in California (see 2306060082). Ranking member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., drew attention Thursday to reports Instagram’s algorithms are driving users to child sex abuse material. Graham suggested the committee should hold a hearing on the topic and find a way to hold platforms accountable, especially when they’re made aware of the harmful content on their platforms. Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said he couldn’t agree more and he hopes recently passed online child safety legislation will advance to the Senate floor soon. House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said Wednesday he’s “appalled” by the reports: “Social media platforms have long been guilty of deliberately driving users to the most extreme, dangerous content possible for the sole purpose of getting more clicks to increase their ad dollars, but this latest example is beyond the pale.” Durbin again held over the Cooper Davis Act (S-1080) (see 2306010074) to allow further negotiation.

TikTok misled Congress about storing sensitive user data in China, Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., wrote the company Tuesday. They sought answers about a report claiming the company “stored the sensitive financial information of U.S. TikTok creators in China, including social security numbers and tax information” (see 2306020033). The reports “directly contradict statements you and other TikTok representatives have made to the public and under oath before Congress about where TikTok stores U.S. user data and the ability of employees in China to access that information,” they wrote CEO Shou Zi Chew. They cited comments from Public Policy Head Michael Beckerman, who told the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee in October 2021 that “U.S. user data is stored in the United States. Our backups are in Singapore.” The company said in a statement Wednesday: "We are reviewing the letter. We remain confident in the accuracy of our testimony and responses to Congress.”