Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - David McCabe

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Fri, 01/26/2018

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Daily Digest 1/25/2018

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Thu, 01/25/2018

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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/technology/tiktok-ban-bill-congress.html

Internet/Broadband

Universal Broadband

Congress Passed a Bill That Could Ban TikTok

Grace Tepper — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 18:34:50 +0000

A bill that would force a sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner, ByteDance—or ban it outright—was passed by the Senate on April 23 and signed into law April 24 by President Joe Biden. Now the process is likely to get even more complicated. Congress passed the measure citing national security concerns because of TikTok’s Chinese ties. Both lawmakers and security experts have said there are risks that the Chinese government could lean on ByteDance for access to sensitive data belonging to its 170 million U.S. users or to spread propaganda. The law would allow TikTok to continue to operate in the United States if ByteDance sold it within 270 days, or about nine months, a time frame that the president could extend to a year. The measure is likely to face legal challenges, as well as possible resistance from Beijing, which could block the sale or export of the technology. It’s also unclear who has the resources to buy TikTok, since it will carry a hefty price tag. The issue could take months or even years to settle, during which the app would probably continue to function for U.S. consumers.

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A bill that would force a sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner, ByteDance — or ban it outright — has been signed into U.S. law.

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Sapna Maheshwari

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Thu, 04/25/2024

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Daily Digest 4/24/2024

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Wed, 04/24/2024

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Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/technology/tiktok-ban-internet-freedom.html

What a TikTok Ban Would Mean for the U.S. Defense of an Open Internet

benton — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:32:36 +0000

For decades, the United States has fashioned itself the champion of an open internet, arguing that the web should be largely unregulated and that digital data should flow around the globe unhindered by borders. The government has argued against internet censorship abroad and even funded software that lets people in autocratic states get around online content restrictions. Now that reputation could take a hit. The House of Representatives will try to advance legislation to force a sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner, ByteDance, or institute a first-of-its-kind ban on the app in the United States, this time including it in a package of legislation that is expected to be considered with aid Israel and Ukraine. The language in the package is similar to a stand-alone measure that passed the House last month with bipartisan support, the most significant step yet by Congress to force the sale of a foreign-owned app of TikTok’s size. But it would extend the deadline for ByteDance to sell the app. Digital rights groups and others around the world have taken notice — and raised the question of how the moves against TikTok contradict the United States’ arguments in favor of an open internet.

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Digital rights groups and others around the world have taken notice — and raised the question of how the moves against TikTok contradict the United States’ arguments in favor of an open internet.

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Fri, 04/19/2024

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Daily Digest 4/18/2024

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Fri, 04/19/2024

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Agenda

Upcoming policy issue

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/04/technology/europe-apple-meta-google-microsoft…

Forced to Change: Tech Giants Bow to Global Onslaught of Rules

zwalker@benton.org — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 19:49:16 +0000

Soon, Google will have changed how it displays certain search results. Microsoft will no longer have Windows customers use its Bing internet search tool by default. And Apple will give iPhone and iPad users access to rival app stores and payment systems for the first time. The tech giants have been preparing ahead of a March 6 deadline to comply with a new European Union law intended to increase competition in the digital economy. The law, called the Digital Markets Act, requires the biggest tech companies to overhaul how some of their products work so smaller rivals can gain more access to their users. “This is a turning point,” said Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission executive vice president in Brussels, who spent much of the past decade battling with tech giants. “Self-regulation is over.”

Benton Content:

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"Self-regulation is over"

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Author:

Adam Satariano

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/technology/google-app-payment-antitrust-settl…

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Tue, 03/05/2024

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Daily Digest 3/4/2024

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Mon, 03/04/2024

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Google Allows More App Payment Options in Antitrust Deal With States

benton — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 12:33:03 +0000

Google will allow developers on its Play app store to offer direct payment options to users in the company’s latest move to navigate increased regulatory scrutiny of its power. Google will allow apps to charge consumers directly rather than having to charge through Google. To highlight the choice that users have in how they download apps, Google reaffirmed that phone makers that use the Android mobile operating system can continue installing multiple app stores on their devices in addition to Google’s Play Store. Google hopes that the settlement will act as a template for resolutions with other critics of its Play Store policies, including Epic Games.

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Google will allow app makers to collect payments directly from consumers

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Author:

Nico Grant

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/05/us/politics/social-media-ruling-government.ht…

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Wed, 12/20/2023

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Daily Digest 12/19/2023

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Wed, 12/20/2023

Coverage Type:

Competition/Antitrust

Platforms

Ruling Puts Social Media at Crossroads of Disinformation and Free Speech

benton — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 11:42:40 +0000

Two months after President Biden took office, his top digital adviser emailed officials at Facebook urging them to do more to limit the spread of “vaccine hesitancy” on the social media platform. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, officials held “weekly sync” meetings with Facebook, once emailing the company 16 “misinformation” posts. And in the summer of 2021, the surgeon general’s top aide repeatedly urged Google, Facebook and Twitter to do more to combat disinformation. The examples are among dozens of interactions described in a 155-page ruling by a federal judge in Louisiana who imposed temporary limits on how members of Biden’s administration can engage with social media companies. The case is a flashpoint in the broader effort by conservatives to document what they contend is a liberal conspiracy by Democrats and tech company executives to silence their views. It taps into fury on the right about how social media companies have treated stories about the origins of Covid, the 2020 election and Hunter Biden. The final outcome could shape the future of First Amendment law in a rapidly changing media environment and alter how far the government can go in trying to prevent the spread of potentially dangerous information, particularly in an election or during emergencies like a pandemic.

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The case, which could alter how the government battles disinformation, is a flashpoint in a broader effort by conservatives to document what they contend is a liberal conspiracy to silence their views.

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Michael Shear

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Thu, 07/06/2023

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Daily Digest 7/5/2023

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Thu, 07/06/2023

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Court case

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/04/business/federal-judge-biden-social-media.htm…

Federal Judge Limits Biden Officials’ Contacts With Social Media Sites

benton — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 21:40:36 +0000

Judge Terry Doughty of the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana restricted parts of the Biden administration from communicating with social media platforms about broad swaths of content online. He said that parts of the government, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, could not talk to social media companies for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.” Judge Doughty said in granting a preliminary injunction that the agencies could not flag specific posts to the social media platforms or request reports about their efforts to take down content. The ruling said that the government could still notify the platforms about posts detailing crimes, national security threats, or foreign attempts to influence elections. The ruling, in a lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri, is likely to be appealed by the Biden administration, but its impact could be sweeping, forcing government officials, including law enforcement agencies, to refrain from notifying the platforms of troublesome content.

Benton Content:

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Government could still notify the platforms about posts detailing crimes, national security threats or foreign attempts to influence elections

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Author:

Steven Lee Myers

Send date:

Wed, 07/05/2023

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 6/30/2023

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Publish Date:

Tue, 07/04/2023

Coverage Type:

Court case

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/23/technology/data-privacy-laws.html

The Era of Borderless Data Is Ending

Grace Tepper — Mon, 23 May 2022 10:28:27 +0000

The information pings around the world at the speed of a click, becoming a kind of borderless currency that underpins the digital economy. Largely unregulated, the flow of bits and bytes helped fuel the rise of transnational megacompanies like Google and Amazon and reshaped global communications, commerce, entertainment and media. Now the era of open borders for data is ending. France, Austria, South Africa and more than 50 other countries are accelerating efforts to control the digital information produced by their citizens, government agencies and corporations. Driven by security and privacy concerns, as well as economic interests and authoritarian and nationalistic urges, governments are increasingly setting rules and standards about how data can and cannot move around the globe. The goal is to gain “digital sovereignty.” While countries like China have long cordoned off their digital ecosystems, the imposition of more national rules on information flows represents a fundamental shift in the democratic world and alters how the internet has operated since it became widely commercialized in the 1990s.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

More than 50 other countries are accelerating efforts to control the digital information produced by their citizens, government agencies and corporations.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/24/technology/florida-twitter-facebook-ban-polit…

Adam Satariano

Send date:

Mon, 05/23/2022

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Daily Digest 5/20/2022

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Mon, 05/23/2022

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Florida, in a First, Will Fine Social Media Companies That Bar Candidates

benton — Mon, 24 May 2021 21:34:24 +0000

Florida became the first state to regulate how companies like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter moderate speech online, by imposing fines on social media companies that permanently bar political candidates for statewide office. The law, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), is a direct response to Facebook’s and Twitter’s bans of former President Donald Trump in January. In addition to the fines for barring candidates, it makes it illegal to prevent some news outlets from posting to their platforms in response to the contents of their stories. Gov DeSantis said signing the bill meant that Floridians would be “guaranteed protection against the Silicon Valley elites.” “If Big Tech censors enforce rules inconsistently, to discriminate in favor of the dominant Silicon Valley ideology, they will now be held accountable,” he said. The Florida law makes it illegal to bar a candidate for state office for more than 14 days. Companies would be fined $250,000 per day for cases where they barred a candidate for statewide office. The fine is lower for candidates seeking other offices. The law says the platforms cannot take down or otherwise prioritize content from a “journalistic enterprise” that reaches a certain size.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

Florida became the first state to regulate how companies moderate speech online

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