Big Tech’s critics work to strike back in White House
WASHINGTON: Congressional Democrats in the United States have begun discussions with the White House on ways to crack down on Big Tech including making social media companies accountable for the spread of disinformation on matters such as the US Capitol riot and addressing the abuse of market power to harm corporate rivals.
The conversations, described by a lawmaker and congressional aides, have included the contentious topic of what to do with a measure called Section 230, part of a 1996 law called the Communications Decency Act, that shields social media platforms from lawsuits over much of the content posted by users.
President Joe Biden as a candidate last year called for revoking Section 230, and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump unsuccessfully pressed Congress to repeal it.
Many lawmakers in recent years have called for laws and regulations to rein in dominant tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Alphabet’s Google, Amazon and Apple. Democratic lawmakers also have expressed alarm over social media’s role in the lead-up to a pro-trump mob’s January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
The conversations between lawmakers and Biden aides represent the first sign that the White House has begun actively getting involved in considering how to take on Big Tech.
Democratic Representative Tom Malinowski, a member of the House committee on homeland security, said he has begun conversations with the White House on how to hold large social media platforms accountable for amplifying radicalising content that triggers violence.
Malinowski said he discussed legislation he sponsored last year that would hold these companies legally liable if they promote content, using algorithms designed to increase readership, that leads to violence. “This is a priority for me, and we have had preliminary conversations with the White House on a path forward,” Malinowski said.
The legislation would amend but not revoke Section 230.
Several congressional aides, speaking on condition of anonymity, said members of Biden’s team are listening to concerns by lawmakers on Big Tech, and participating in conversations about potential future action. The White House declined comment on these discussions.
Democratic Representative David Cicilline, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, has raised with the White House the topic of more stringent antitrust enforcement against Big Tech, a source familiar with the matter said. A Cicilline spokesman declined comment.
Based on Cicilline’s previous public comments, that could mean he actively pursues legislation based on recommendations from his subcommittee’s 400page October report into the state of competition in the digital economy. Some antitrust experts said this also could mean broadening the US Justice Department’s October lawsuit that accused Google of misusing its market power to crush rivals.
Addressing Section 230
Aides to Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, a co-author of Section 230, have spoken to the White House about reforming the provision, a Wyden aide said. Those talks, the aide added, were aimed at a “deliberate approach to reforming the law” rather than repealing it. “We have conveyed Senator Wyden’s view that it would be tremendously harmful to repeal or change 230 without great care,” the aide said.
Republican lawmakers including Trump ally Senator Josh Hawley have pushed for repealing Sec 230. Biden aides have previously said he is open to debate on how to reform Sec 230.
Dumping it was so important to Trump that he vetoed $740 billion defence legislation in
December because lawmakers had not heeded his demand for language repealing Section 230. Trump was angered after Twitter, in cracking down on election misinformation, labelled some of his posts as containing disputed or misleading content. Twitter in January banned Trump’s account.
Wyden’s aides have circulated material among Senate Democrats to build consensus on changing not dumping Sec 230.
Scott Wallsten, president of the Washington-based Technology Policy Institute think tank, said the conversations can inform Biden’s thinking on issues related to tech and at the very least get White House advisers thinking about what needs to be done. “I think they are trying to develop a more well-thought-out position,” Wallsten said of White House officials. “A lot of this will take time - nothing in terms of policy positions will be immediate.”
THE DEBATE HAS BEEN AROUND A MEASURE CALLED SECTION 230 THAT SHIELDS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS FROM LAWSUITS OVER MUCH OF THE CONTENT POSTED BY USERS