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.
Section 230
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.
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.
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.
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.
Senate Republicans introduced legislation Tuesday to clarify Communications Decency Act Section 230, altering liability protections for tech companies. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced the Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act. The legislation would replace “otherwise objectionable” with concrete terms for defining content moderation liability such as content promoting terrorism, unlawful content and content promoting self-harm. It would condition content moderation liability on an “objective reasonableness standard” when companies restrict access to content.
Hearst Television advances Alvin Lustgarten to senior vice president-technology and information services ... Teradata promotes Hillary Ashton to chief product officer ... Gannett taps Mayur Gupta, ex-Freshly, for chief marketing and strategy officer; he resigns from Gannett board ... VideoAmp adds from Omnicom Media Jonathan Steuer as executive vice president-TV strategy and currency ... Workforce Logiq hires consultant William Rolack as vice president-diversity and inclusion.
The House and Senate Commerce committees are eyeing two hearings next week on telecom issues, communications sector lobbyists told us. House Commerce is expected Thursday to issue a notice on a Sept. 17 FCC oversight hearing, lobbyists said. Senate Commerce, meanwhile, plans a panel on oversight of FirstNet, lobbyists said. The House Commerce hearing would be FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly’s first public appearance on Capitol Hill since President Donald Trump withdrew his renomination to another term (see 2008030072). The panel is expected to touch on FCC plans for handling NTIA’s petition for regulations defining the scope of Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 2007270070). O’Rielly’s reluctance to publicly back FCC OK of the Trump-sought Section 230 petition is considered the main reason his renomination was revoked (see 2008040061). Senate Commerce’s FirstNet hearing would be the first Hill oversight panel on the network since 2017 (see 1711010035). House and Senate Commerce didn’t comment.
Adopt NTIA’s petition for rulemaking on Communications Decency Act Section 230, Republican state attorneys general commented to the FCC posted Thursday in RM-11862 (see 2009020064). Tech, telecom and consumer groups again largely said the FCC shouldn't consider the petition, saying the FCC and NTIA are exceeding their jurisdiction and expertise. The AG group was formed by Texas’ Ken Paxton, Indiana’s Curtis Hill, Louisiana’s Jeff Landy and Missouri’s Eric Schmitt. The petition clarifies 230's scope and empowers states without undermining protections for moderation of “traditionally regulated content,” they wrote: It promotes freedom of speech by “ensuring competition through transparency.”