Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson criticized what he views as Senate Republicans’ reluctance to consider FCC nominee Nathan Simington before the Nov. 3 election. President Donald Trump named Simington, an NTIA senior adviser, last month as his pick to replace Commissioner Mike O'Rielly (see 2009150074), whose term expired. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi and other Republicans have been meeting with Simington (see 2009300022), but the committee hasn’t scheduled a hearing. “Republicans still control the Senate, so you would imagine they would be busy confirming the president’s nominees while they’re still able to” before the election, Carlson said on his Thursday TV show. “But they’re not. In some cases, they are blocking conservatives from getting appointments,” including Simington. If “you’re worried about the unchallenged power of Big Tech -- and you should be -- you ought to support Simington’s appointment” because of his involvement in writing Trump's executive order directing NTIA to petition for FCC regulations defining the scope of Communications Decency Act Section 230, Carlson said. “But Senate Republicans do not support it. They are sitting on his nomination. They are hoping instead they’ll be able to confirm” a nominee from Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden “next year” if he wins the election. Trump “complained about this, including on Twitter” (see 2010070053), “but they’ve ignored it,” Carlson said. “Remember that next time you hear Republicans in Washington pretend that they care about free speech, pretend that they’re going to do something about the shocking abuse of the tech monopolies.”
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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, if he wins the Nov. 3 election, is likely to be “very receptive” to coming legislation from House Antitrust Subcommittee members to implement recommendations from their Tuesday report on competition in the digital economy, subpanel Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I., said Wednesday. The report called for bills to institute structural separation and line of business restrictions to address alleged abuse of market power by Google, Facebook, Amazon and other major tech companies (see 2010060062).
Congress should consider legislation including structural separation and line of business restrictions to address abuse of market power in the digital economy, House Antitrust Subcommittee Democratic staff recommended in a long-awaited report Tuesday. Republicans didn’t sign on but released their own report. Recommendations include prohibition of self-preferencing, portability requirements, mandating that platforms provide due process before taking action against market participants, and amendments to the Clayton, Sherman and FTC acts.
The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously voted Thursday to issue subpoenas to Facebook, Google and Twitter for testimony from CEOs Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey (see 2009250037). The vote was a “big, bipartisan signal to Big Tech,” Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us, saying there’s agreement that Communications Decency Act Section 230 is “overdue for a makeover.” During Thursday’s executive session, Democrats suggested the hearing be held after the November election to avoid any influence over platform election content.
Expect the House Antitrust Subcommittee to release its report on Big Tech next week, Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I., told us after Thursday’s final hearing on the matter. House Judiciary Committee Republicans planned to introduce legislation to amend Section 230 and limit liability protections for platforms making “editorial decisions,” ranking member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, announced at the hearing.
The Senate Judiciary Committee should reject Chairman Lindsey Graham’s, R-S.C., Section 230- and copyright-related legislation, advocates wrote the committee Wednesday before Thursday’s markup (see 2009290065). Access Now, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation, New American’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge signed. The Online Content Policy Modernization Act (S-4632) “would discourage social media companies from taking down or fact-checking disinformation,” said CDT CEO Alexandra Givens. “We need social media companies to be taking more action against election misinformation, not less.” CTA, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, EFF, Engine, Re:Create and the R Street Institute signed a separate letter in opposition.
A bipartisan pair of senators introduced legislation Tuesday to amend Communications Decency Act Section 230 and require platforms to report illegal drug sales and other illicit activity. Tech industry and privacy advocates oppose the bill. Experts raised issues with proposals aimed at amending industry’s liability shield, in interviews.
The looming battle for Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett could either help or hurt FCC nominee Nathan Simington's chances of getting the chamber's approval before the election, lawmakers and others told us. President Donald Trump announced his Barrett pick Saturday to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as expected (see 2009220022). Trump earlier named Simington, an NTIA senior adviser, as his pick to replace Commissioner Mike O'Rielly (see 2009150074).
Communications Decency Act Section 230 can be modified to ensure it’s not abused by tech companies seeking to avoid legitimate civil liability, FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said on C-SPAN's The Communicators, to have been televised this weekend. Section 230 is important for a thriving internet, but there are concerns about tech companies using it as a shield against civil liability outside the statute's scope, she said. She said requiring viewpoint neutrality doesn’t have any basis in the law concerning Section 230. It’s difficult to visualize any actions the FTC could take consistent with its legal mandates in response to President Donald Trump’s social media executive order (see 2009220049), she said. The FTC isn’t “political speech police,” the Democratic commissioner added, calling the EO “confounding” from a legal basis. Slaughter supports an FTC study on targeted advertising, which Commissioners Rohit Chopra and Christine Wilson also support. There should be transparency in the “black box” into which platforms funnel data, Slaughter said. Congress needs to look at court cases that limited antitrust enforcement, and the agency needs more antitrust resources, she argued. With large companies, agencies are likely to find anticompetitive activity, which her agency needs to examine, she said. The next administration should reinstate net neutrality rules and return broadband to the FTC’s purview as a Communications Act Title II service, she said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider Section 230 legislation at Thursday’s 10 a.m. markup in 325 Russell (see 2009220064). The Online Content Policy Modernization Act (S-4632) from Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was held over from this week’s markup. This past Thursday, some said the FCC doesn't need more authority to act on NTIA's petition to clarify Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 2009240058).