The Senate Commerce Committee is considering a hearing on a bill from Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and John Thune, R-S.D., that would open the door to a TikTok ban in the U.S., Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Wednesday. Warner and Thune introduced the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (Restrict) Act (S-686), a bill with more than 20 sponsors that would allow the Commerce Department to effectively ban apps like TikTok over national security concerns (see 2303170043).
Republican states are responsible for an unprecedented wave of free speech violations, not the tech industry or Democrats, House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said during a House Communications Subcommittee hearing Tuesday.
China-based employees can access American users’ TikTok data, but that access will be cut off once the company implements Project Texas (see 2303170043), TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew told the House Commerce Committee Thursday.
New Jersey’s Assembly Health Committee unanimously passed legislation Monday that would hold social media platforms liable when they engage in activity that causes users under the age of 18 to “become addicted” to their services.
Congress must end the intelligence community’s practice of doing warrantless searches of American phone calls, texts and emails, said Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio; Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., in separate remarks Wednesday.
Banning TikTok outright is a better approach than relying on the Commerce Department to take action against the Chinese-owned social media app, Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told us last week. Several senators, both Republican and Democrat, told us they're interested in co-sponsoring a bill that favors the latter approach (see 2303080075).
TikTok’s popularity with young Americans isn’t a good reason to not take strong action against the popular Chinese-owned social media app, FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday. A day earlier the White House announced support for bipartisan legislation to authorize the Commerce Department to effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and more than 10 senators backed the bill.
Platforms shouldn’t be liable for real-world harm just because their algorithms amplify and rank content, said consumer advocates, academics and industry representatives Monday at the State of the Net Conference.
Section 230 should be made less of an applicable defense when platforms actively promote content that results in real-world harm, Senate Technology Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters Thursday.
Defending critical infrastructure is the administration’s top national cybersecurity priority, President Joe Biden announced Thursday, releasing the administration’s strategy.