The FCC has power to regulate social media, and the First Amendment supports the Trump administration’s petition for rulemaking, NTIA replied Friday (see 2009020064). The commission can require disclosure of information services under the Communications Act, and courts have ruled “search engines, browsers and internet social media precursors such as chat rooms are information services,” wrote acting Director Adam Candeub. He asked to grant its petition for Communications Decency Act Section 230 rulemaking.
Section 230
House Communications Subcommittee members in both parties delivered Thursday on expectations for a highly partisan FCC oversight hearing (see 2009160076) in which many lawmakers gave what they viewed as their final verdict on the commission’s performance under Chairman Ajit Pai. Democrats castigated what they saw as the FCC's missed opportunities on telecom policy, including not doing more to improve connectivity amid COVID-19. Republicans defended Pai as doing as much as he could under statutory authority. The House Commerce Committee’s own policy track record during this Congress came into question amid renewed pressure for a compromise on aid legislation.
The goal of the FCC Communications Decency Act Section 230 proceeding is to “push back on concentrations of power” held by big tech companies, said FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr during a virtual Lincoln Network Q&A Wednesday. Carr said his push for “light-touch regulation” represents a growing shift among conservatives, and existing conservative Washington think tanks are dominated by “abject corporatism” and opposition to all regulation. “My approach to net neutrality is consistent with my approach to big tech,” Carr said. “It’s easy to say ‘let's not change anything,’” Carr said. “This is not simply competition in a free market; this is taking advantage of a landscape skewed by law to favor their business model.”
A Thursday House Communications Subcommittee hearing is expected to feature partisan dueling assessments of the FCC's performance under Chairman Ajit Pai, capping off subcommittee Democrats’ often-rancorous relationship with commission Republicans this Congress (see 1901160031). Communications Democrats said the hearing will focus on FCC “lost opportunities” during President Donald Trump’s administration, including actions they say widened the digital divide (see 2009100066). The hearing begins at 10 a.m.
It’s unlikely the Senate will significantly move forward in consideration of FCC nominee Nathan Simington before the November election, if at all this year, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews this week. The White House said Tuesday President Donald Trump intended to nominate Simington, currently a NTIA senior adviser, to the seat held by Commissioner Mike O’Rielly (see 2009150074). The White House formally sent Simington's nomination to the Senate Wednesday. Trump revoked O’Rielly’s renomination in early August (see 2008030072).
The Senate should reject the Earn It Act, which would result in online censorship, jeopardize encryption and potentially undermine child abuse cases, 26 advocacy groups wrote Tuesday (see 2007080061). Access Now, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Internet Society, New America's Open Technology Institute and R Street Institute were signers. The bill is “a blunt tool that will result in platforms taking down a lot of First Amendment-protected content, particularly content created by people whose voices are already marginalized in society,” said CDT Free Expression Project Director Emma Llanso.
Google has unprecedented control over the digital advertising market, which threatens news publishers and gives the platform unrivaled leverage, Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans and Democrats said at an Antitrust Subcommittee hearing Tuesday.
Legislation discouraging social media fact-checking and First Amendment rights is the wrong approach, said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks Wednesday. They discussed Republican proposals on Communications Decency Act Section 230.
If Joe Biden wins the November election, expect Democrats to pursue antitrust law changes that would raise the bar for acquisitions, experts said in recent interviews. President Donald Trump has shown more interest in politically driven attacks than serious policy work, they said.
FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly’s future remains in limbo more than a month after President Donald Trump withdrew his renomination (see 2008030072), officials and lobbyists told us. Republican senators returned Tuesday from the August recess without a clear outcome from their push for Trump to reverse course (see 2008060062). Officials we spoke with indicated the White House hasn’t settled on a new candidate for the GOP seat.