i2Coalition Internet Infrastructure Policy Brief: November 2025

Your brief update on important Internet policy issues

OUTLOOK

On November 12, President Trump signed into law the legislation passed by Congress to end the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history and extend funding through January 30, 2026. Following the Senate’s approval, the House, led by the Republican majority, passed the legislation by a vote of 222-209. House Democrats generally condemned and opposed the bill because it failed to secure a deal to extend federal health insurance subsidies. Although the Senate plans to hold a later vote on those subsidies, House Speaker Mike Johnson has not made a similar commitment for a House vote. After the halting of legislative activity for 43 days, unlike the Senate which continued working, the House is aiming to make up for lost time by resuming multiple hearings, bill markups, and floor votes. Following the Thanksgiving holiday break, Congress will return to Washington on December 1. What ultimately passes the House and Senate before the Christmas holiday recess is expected to be limited, with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as a top priority. As possibly the last large bill moving this year, the NDAA will likely contain various extraneous items. There is a move by some Republican leaders to add to the NDAA language that imposes some form of AI state regulatory moratorium. Those AI preemption efforts face substantial challenges because they are controversial and opposed by many factions. Significant resolution of differences between the House and Senate NDAA bill versions is also required because the Senate NDAA bill authorizes some $32 billion more than the House version. 

TECH POLICY PRIORITIES 

Intermediary Liability/Content Moderation. Senators John Curtis (R-UT) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) introduced the Algorithm Accountability Act, which would amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 to impose a duty of care on online providers that use recommendation-based algorithms in order to prevent foreseeable bodily injury or death and would give injured individuals a clear civil right of action to seek relief in federal court. Senator Cruz is expected to release the text of the JAWBONE Act, a bill to provide a right of redress for private citizens whose online speech is targeted by online providers under pressure from American government officials.

Federal Privacy. On December 2 a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will hold a legislative hearing on kids’ online safety measures. No draft text has yet been shared by the Republican-led House Energy and Commerce Privacy Working Group, which has been working this year on federal comprehensive consumer privacy and data security legislation. 

Copyright/IP. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on December 1 in the billion-dollar Cox v. Sony contributory copyright liability case. A group of law professors filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to accept a case on whether AI-generated works can receive copyright protection. The lower court ruling in the case decided that only humans can hold a copyright. 

Antitrust/Competition. A federal judge ruled on November 18 that Meta’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp did not create an illegal social media monopoly. New York federal Judge P. Kevin Castel ruled in favor of online news publishers and advertisers who claimed that Google monopolized digital advertising technology and diverted revenue from news organizations. Broadband. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee advanced bills for streamlined broadband deployment permitting. To ramp up progress toward some form of AI state regulation preemption a draft Executive Order was circulated that would link the availability of unallocated BEAD state funding to state cooperation with federal AI priorities, a move which Democratic House Energy and Commerce leaders denounced as illegal.

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