Sen. Rick Scott of Florida’s 11-point plan for GOP policies to "rescue America” if the party wins control of Congress in the November elections and the White House in 2024 calls for the FCC to “hold online platforms and broadband providers accountable for not adequately providing tools for parents to keep” the “explosion of pornography and cyber predators … out of their homes.” Scott included the call for FCC action as part of a broader proposal for protecting “the American family” by defending it “from societal elements that erode it.” The National Republican Senatorial Committee's chairman, Scott believes the U.S. “must enforce existing federal obscenity laws. Our society has almost given up on demanding decency; we must aim higher.” His proposal also targets major U.S. tech companies, pressing for significant changes to Communications Decency Act Section 230. The federal government should treat “all social media platforms that censor speech and cancel people … like publishers and subject to legal action,” the proposal said. “We will require big tech platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, to receive express consent (not as a condition of use) before using Americans’ personal information in any manner, and make it simple for users to opt out.” Tech “platforms will also be required to obtain user consent to sell, share, or convey user data to a third-party entity,” the proposal said.
Expect the Senate Commerce Committee to mark up bipartisan legislation introduced Wednesday that’s meant to improve child safety online, Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and ranking member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told reporters.
Georgia’s Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee passed a social media bill Tuesday modeled after Texas and Florida laws that were enjoined by federal district courts (see 2202100068). SB-393 advanced 6-5 and now goes to the Rules Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Earn It Act by voice vote Thursday (see 2202090050 and 2202010019). Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., vowed to push a companion measure forward in the House. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told us he’s going to “fight” the bill “every step of the way.”
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., reintroduced the Earn It Act Monday, as expected (see 2105180041). The bill removes “blanket immunity” under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act for violations of law on online child sexual abuse material. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the bill in 2020 (see 2007020050). Asked about committee consideration for the reintroduced bill, Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told us Tuesday: "Soon." Tech platforms would no longer have immunity from federal civil, state criminal and state civil child sexual abuse material laws. The bill establishes a national commission headed by leaders of DOJ, the FTC, DHS and other congressionally appointed members. The commission would establish voluntary best practices. Reps. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., and Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, are introducing companion legislation. The bill would restore victims’ privacy, said the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. CEO Dawn Hawkins said tech companies don’t currently have “incentive to prevent or eliminate CSAM.” Section 230 isn’t a barrier to federal prosecution of companies that fail to combat illegal material, said Computer & Communications Industry Association President Matt Schruers: “Enforcing existing criminal statutes in known cases would prevent more crime than placing a federal committee in control of how Internet services police content.” The bill, as originally written and reintroduced, “threatens encryption, privacy, and the Constitution,” said NetChoice Vice President Carl Szabo: It gives a “get-out-of-jail-free” card to those “credibly accused of child exploitation,” and its sponsors haven’t addressed “serious Fourth Amendment problems that would give criminal defendants yet another means to challenge their CSAM convictions.”
The FCC should consider imposing cybersecurity rules tied to USF support, similar to what the regulator did on insecure network equipment from China (see 2012100054), said former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai during a Hudson Institute virtual event Friday. Pai was interviewed by former Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth.
Governor’s Office of Information Technology hires Brandy Reitter as executive director-Colorado Broadband Office; she's Eagle's town manager; OIT Deputy Executive Director Julia Richman leads office until Reitter joins in February.
Google and Microsoft should remove a website that encourages suicide from search engines, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., wrote the companies Monday (see 2112200073). The companies have “not only the ability but also the legal authority” to remove the site from search results under the Good Samaritan provision of Communications Decency Act Section 230, Blumenthal wrote. Microsoft declined comment Tuesday. A Google spokesperson said the platform’s features promote suicide prevention hotlines for users searching for information about suicide. Google has “specialized ranking systems designed to prioritize the highest quality results available for self-harm queries,” and Google blocks such autocomplete predictions, the company said: “We balance these safeguards with our commitment to give people open access to information. We’re guided by local law when it comes to the important and complex questions of what information people should be able to find online.”
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.
The U.S. is “in great shape” on 5G competition internationally, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told a Media Institute virtual event Thursday. He said the agency's approach over the past five or six years of freeing up spectrum and lowering infrastructure barriers has been a proven success. He waved off former Google Executive Chairman CEO Eric Schmidt's repeated warnings of the U.S. lagging behind other nations such as China as "the Chicken Little of 5G leadership." Google didn't comment. Carr said more should be done in spectrum availability and infrastructure reform, citing completion of the 2.5 GHz auction and authorizing very low power use in the 6 GHz band as goals. Asked about 6G planning, Carr said the U.S. could start contemplating issues like the terahertz spectrum it might require, but the U.S. has "got to tend to our knitting" with 5G foremost. Asked about the likelihood of a resumption of net neutrality rules, he said it's "largely baked in" that the agency will at least debate a return to Communications Act Title II rules, though he was dismissive. "It's such an old debate of the past," he said, saying regulatory focus shouldn't be on ISPs but on edge provider behavior. He said if rate regulation were taken off the table, it would be relatively easy to find consensus about net neutrality rules for blocking and throttling. He said there could be a route for Communications Decency Act Section 230 changes that puts an affirmative anti-discrimination requirement on platforms while remaining consistent with the First Amendment. He said the Supreme Court's rulings on the First Amendment, when put on a continuum, include an opening for regulating tech companies' actions as a speech conduit while not implicating the First Amendment. Asked whether the FCC's 2018 broadcast ownership quadrennial review is likely to get done in 2022, Carr said there "is some precedent" for rolling it over: "These may start to run together a little bit."