Under President Joe Biden, the FTC will face most of the same issues presently before the agency. In a Biden Administration, the FTC may tip from three Republican Commissioners, including the chair, to a majority of Democrats if Chair Joseph Simons steps down as has been rumored for some months now, in part because of … Continue reading Biden Administration Tech Policy: Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Further Reading “Confusion and conflict stir online as Trump claims victory, questions states’ efforts to count ballots” By Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, Isaac Stanley-Becker and Drew Harwell — Washington Post. When the post-mortem on the 2020 Election is written, it is likely to be the case that foreign disinformation was not the primary threat. Rather, … Continue reading Further Reading, Other Developments, and Coming Events (5 November)
The Federal Trade Commission urges Congress to undo three court decisions that have weakened its enforcement powers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wrote the House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over the agency, asking for language restoring the power to seek and obtain restitution for victims of those who have violated Section 5 of the … Continue reading FTC Asks Congress For Fix Ahead of SCOTUS Decision
Further Reading “U.S. Cyber Command Expands Operations to Hunt Hackers From Russia, Iran and China” By Julian Barnes — The New York Times. The United States (U.S.) agency charged with offensive cyber operations sent teams around the world to undisclosed locations to work with partner nations to foil Russian, Chinese, and Iranian efforts to disrupt … Continue reading Further Reading, Other Developments, and Coming Events (4 November)
A number of tech ballot initiatives were considered. There were a number of significant technology measures put before voters in states in yesterday’s election. The most significant were in California as voters agreed to replace the “California Consumer Privacy Act” (CCPA) (AB 375) with a new privacy bill, voted for another technology-related ballot initiative, and … Continue reading Tech Election Results
Two Trump Administration measures to strike at the PRC remain unimplemented. The Trump Administration has suffered more setbacks in its efforts to move forward with its bans on applications from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). United States’ (U.S.) courts continue to block enforcement of orders prohibiting TikTok and WeChat on national security grounds. Courts … Continue reading Courts Further Block TikTok and WeChat Bans
Further Reading “How Facebook and Twitter plan to handle election day disinformation” By Sam Dean — The Los Angeles Times; “How Big Tech is planning for election night” By Heather Kelly — The Washington Post; and “What to Expect From Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on Election Day” By Mike Isaac, Kate Conger and Daisuke Wakabayashi … Continue reading Further Reading, Other Developments, and Coming Events (3 November)
The OIG found issues with how CISA provided assistance on election cybersecurity and found a complete lack of planning or assistance on physical safety, terrorism, and violence issues. The United States’ (U.S.) Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released its second assessment in the last two years of the Cybersecurity … Continue reading OIG Finds DHS Election Security Efforts Improved But Still Lacking
Further Reading “Harris target of more misinformation than Pence, data shows” By Amanda Seitz — Associated Press News. Given the hostile treatment women and minorities in the United States face on social media, it is not a surprise that Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) has faced a barrage of sexist, racist, and xenophobic invective online.“The Untold … Continue reading Further Reading, Other Developments, and Coming Events (2 November)
A pair of Democrats take a different approach on addressing the problems caused by social media platforms visa vis limiting liability protection. Two House Democrats have introduced legislation to reform 47 U.S.C. 230 (Section 230) from a different perspective than the flurry of Republican bills introduced in the last few months. Unlike those bills, the … Continue reading Section 230 Algorithm Bill
Michael Kans 