The House Consumer Protection Subcommittee plans to mark up privacy legislation next week, Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., told reporters Tuesday, as expected (see 2206080054). An aide said those details aren’t yet official.
Karl Herchenroeder
Karl Herchenroeder, Associate Editor, is a technology policy journalist for publications including Communications Daily. Born in Rockville, Maryland, he joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2018. He began his journalism career in 2012 at the Aspen Times in Aspen, Colorado, where he covered city government. After that, he covered the nuclear industry for ExchangeMonitor in Washington. You can follow Herchenroeder on Twitter: @karlherk
Seven witnesses representing industry and consumer groups are expected to testify with a former FTC chair at Tuesday’s House Consumer Protection Subcommittee legislative hearing on a bipartisan privacy discussion draft, according to committee materials reviewed Friday.
Expect a subcommittee markup on bipartisan privacy legislation in the weeks after a June 14 legislative hearing (see 2206070062), House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., told us Wednesday.
The tech industry and state officials were waiting Friday for a potential Supreme Court decision that could prove significant for social media content moderation practices. Various court decisions issued throughout the week raised questions about interpretation of Communications Decency Act Section 230 that some want the Supreme Court to settle.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Wednesday she’s willing to support federal preemption in a privacy bill with ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss. But a consumer’s right to sue remains a sticking point, she added. The development follows a May 16 meeting between Wicker and Cantwell, which was an effort to renew privacy negotiations, ongoing since 2018 (see 2205130058).
The Department of Homeland Security should permanently shutter its disinformation board, Republicans told us last week after the director resigned (see 2205180051). Democrats also had critical comments about the board’s rollout, following free speech objections from Republicans (see 2205050048).
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., will meet with ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Monday afternoon for renewed privacy negotiations, a committee member told us last week.
The FTC should look “very closely” at Amazon’s purchase of MGM (see 2203170007), Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said Thursday. The agency didn’t challenge the deal before it closed in March, but Chair Lina Khan has been without a Democratic majority since October. The Senate confirmed Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya this week, restoring the majority (see 2205110069). The FTC said in August the “the law permits the antitrust agencies to determine that a merger is illegal even after the companies have merged.”
A 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel debated whether social media platforms more closely align with common carriers or with newspapers and broadcasters in a case that could have major implications for internet speech (see 2204040039). Judges were skeptical of arguments from both the tech industry and Texas during oral argument Monday in New Orleans.
The California Assembly’s Judiciary Committee unanimously passed legislation Tuesday to make social media platforms liable for addiction- and design-related harm to children. AB-2408 would impose penalties on major social media platforms for negligent design.