Congress a few data points shy of a law
Lack of tech savvy, limit the prospect of regulating Facebook, social media
WASHINGTON— With bipartisan agreement, members of Congress said this week that Silicon Valley needed to be reined in with new regulations after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, failed to allay concerns over the company’s mishandling of user privacy.
But time and again, when the most pressing issues have landed on Capitol Hill — such as gun violence, school shootings, immigration and border control — Congress has declared fivealarm fires only to fail to follow through on major legislation. The zest for new privacy laws is also likely to stall as lawmakers wrestle with the technical complexities and constitutional vexations sure to emerge with any bill meant to control content on the internet.
“I think we need to be careful,” cautioned John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate. “I think there are a number of different ideas, but I don’t think anything has coalesced in terms of a consensus.”
For the public, watching the many bursts of fireworks from Congress and the quick after-fizzle can be dizzying. But Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, the ranking minority member on the House committee responsible for internet regula- tion, warned voters not to expect much.
“I hate to be such a pessimist, but I don’t believe the Republicans will end up doing anything,” he said. “I just don’t have any faith in their willingness to regulate to protect privacy in the context of Facebook.”
Beyond the typical political gridlock that has stymied action in Congress, technology and the companies that sell access to it are particularly protected.
The Facebook hearings this week revealed a vast knowledge gap between Silicon Valley and the nation’s capital, where lawmakers struggled to grasp how the technology works and which problems — misinforma- tion, sharing of data to third-parties or political biases coded into algorithms — needed to be addressed.
Inaction does not reflect a lack of will so much as a failure of expertise.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen an issue where everybody seemed to be on the same sheet of music,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Thursday.
If Congress does not follow through with new rules for internet companies, “we’ll look like a bunch of idiots,” Graham added.
Avoiding that will be difficult. Lawmakers will confront Silicon Valley’s powerful new lobbying establishment. Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple now hold the biggest corporate lobbying budgets in Washington and spent a combined $49.7 million (U.S.) in 2017 on direct lobbying, up 24 per cent from the previous year. They have hired top privacy experts into their lobbying troops to defeat privacy and other internet laws.
Facebook has said it would embrace some regulation, with Zuckerberg saying this week that rules for internet companies were “inevitable.” But he also indicated that it would have to be the “right” regulations, and he was not willing to commit on the spot to several ideas posed by lawmakers.
The hearings spurred new momentum for the introduction of privacy laws. On Thurs- day, Sens. Amy Klobuchar and John Kennedy introduced bipartisan legislation that would allow consumers to opt out of getting tracked on a site. The bill would also mandate simpler privacy policies.
One new bill would restrict data collection of students using classroom technology. Another would require companies to get permission before collecting and sharing user data. That would move the U.S. closer to rules taking effect in Europe. An earlier bill would mandate more disclosure on Facebook advertising purchases.
This week, Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal introduced the Consent Act, which would require companies to get permission before tracking and sharing data. But even he pointed to Washington’s short attention span. Companies such as Facebook, he said, would try to stand in Congress’ way.
“They will try to make it more complex than it is,” he said.
“The question is timing,” Blumenthal added, pointing to the difficult midterm elections in November and the desire by many legislators to do as little as possible until then. “This session, everybody says, is over as far as serious legislating is concerned.”
Graham, who said regulations were necessary, also noted the pitfalls of moving too fast.
“I’d hate to be the senator that killed an effort to have reasonable regulation,” Graham said. But, he conceded, “You really need to know what you are signing up for.”