i2Coalition August 2019 Legislative Update

This is a brief legislative update for the public on important Internet policy issues. Join the i2Coalition for in-depth updates from our Policy Director available only to members.

OUTLOOK 

The House and Senate will be returning from recess on September 9, after which there will be a number of relevant hearings and dates. 

In the meantime, see the end of this update for information about our annual legislative fly-in for i2Coalition members taking place September 17-18, 2019. 

UPCOMING RELEVANT HEARINGS and DATES              

September 17: Senate Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law , “Oversight of the Enforcement of Antitrust Laws.” 2:30 p.m., 226 Dirksen.    

Section 230:  

• Draft White House Executive Order – A draft executive order is circulating around the White House that calls for the FCC to develop new regulations clarifying how and when the law protects social media websites when they decide to remove or suppress content on their platforms. 

Techlash:   

• White House Online Extremism Meeting – On August 9th, Trump officials met with representatives from tech platforms, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, and the Internet Association to discuss ways to combat extremism and violence online. This comes after one of the mass shootings last weekend was connected to a post on the website 8chan.   

Trade and Tax:     

• China – Talks with China have once again stalled as President Trump placed tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods last week. On August 9th, he announced that they are not ready to strike a trade deal yet and that the next round of talks that were scheduled for September may not happen.  

• USMCA – Energy and Commerce Committee leadership sent a letter to the USTR urging the administration to reconsider USCMA language that mirrors Section 230 liability protections.  

Privacy: 

• California Efforts – As it seems more unlikely that privacy legislation will pass in this Congress, tech companies are attempting last-ditch efforts to alter the California Consumer Privacy Act before the final four weeks of the state’s legislative session. With no federal privacy law, the CCPA is expected to become the de facto national standard when it goes into effect on January 1.  

• YouTube Children’s Privacy – Two Members of Congress sent a letter to the FTC and the Justice Department,  calling on the agencies to mandate annual independent audits for YouTube to monitor compliance with children’s privacy laws and to block it from launching new children’s services without outside review. The lawmakers said any settlement should also require that videos directed at children be moved off YouTube’s main platform and onto its YouTube Kids feature, and that the company mandate that parents proactively opt in before a child under 13 gains access to that platform. 

i2Coalition Annual Fly-In
Don’t forget our annual fly-in will happen September 17th-18th, 2019. You can read more about it and register here: https://i2coalition.com/events/fly-in/ . Among this year’s events will be visits with White House Staff, the NTIA as well as a Diversity Reception and our “Goodbye” event at the Hawk N’ Dove.