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US House of Representatives bans TikTok on its devices
The House's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) reportedly told all lawmakers and their staff in an email that they must delete the app from their devices, because it's considered "high risk due to a number of security issues."
Ocasio-Cortez, Warren blast Amazon for 'wholly inadequate' warehouse safety
House and Senate politicians have criticized Amazon for a 'wholly inadequate' safety culture that led to six deaths at a warehouse.
House committee launches investigation into Amazon labor practices
A House committee is investigating Amazon's labor practices following a deadly tornado that collapsed a company warehouse.
Congressional bills would ban tech mergers over $5 billion
New bills in the Senate and House would effectively ban large tech mergers, and help break up existing mergers deemed harmful.
Senators want to block government agencies from buying Clearview AI data
A bipartisan bill would also ban purchases of location data without a warrant.
House amendment would require warrants for web history searches
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren announced an amendment that would prohibit the collection of Americans’ internet search history and web browsing data without a warrant.
Washington state approves stronger facial recognition regulations
Washington officials have approved a set of stronger facial recognition regulations for the state. Members of the state's House of Representatives and the Senate have reached a final compromise on the rules designed to regulate the use of facial recognition. Since Washington often leads the way in tech-related laws -- it was the first state to pass its own net neutrality law -- this sounds like an auspicious development for privacy advocates across the nation.
A House bill could cap the concentration of nicotine in e-cigs
As part of a growing effort to reduce teen vaping, US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) has proposed legislation that could put a cap on the concentration of nicotine in e-cigarettes, CNN reports. The bill would limit nicotine content to no more than 20 milligrams per milliliter. According to Krishnamoorthi's office, the goal is to make e-cigs "significantly less addictive and appealing to youth."
Tech giants to face House committee hearings over effects on small business
Internet heavyweights are facing yet more congressional scrutiny over their competitive practices. The House Small Business Committee intends to question Amazon, Facebook and Google over their possible harm to competition for small businesses. Committee chair Nydia Velàzquez (above) intends to hold a hearing in late October or early November to explore the health of smaller companies in the face of "dominance" by large tech firms in spaces "ranging from e-commerce to internet traffic," a spokeswoman told Bloomberg. Notably, Velàzquez wants to know if small outlets are stymied when they either compete directly with internet giants or try to promote themselves on those giants' sites.
Congress plans to investigate how social media giants are fighting hate
House lawmakers plan to unveil legislation to study the ways social media can be weaponized, The Washington Post reports. They want to better understand social media-fueled violence and to determine if tech giants are doing enough to effectively protect users from harmful content. Congress isn't just looking at what tech giants say they'll do to fight online hate and extremism. Lawmakers want to know if those efforts are effective or not.
House passes bipartisan bill to stop illegal robocalls
The House has just passed a bipartisan bill created to put a stop to all the annoying and disruptive robocalls you get. Introduced by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone and Ranking Member Greg Walden, the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act enjoyed support from almost all the representatives and passed with a 429-3 vote. The bill is very similar to the anti-robocall bill the Senate passed in May with a few differences -- according to The Hill, there won't be any formal proceedings to resolve discrepancies between the two, but informal negotiations will happen in August.
House Judiciary panel to grill Google and Facebook on hate speech
On April 9th, a group of lawmakers will be squeezing Google and Facebook for answers on what they're doing to curb the spread of white nationalism and separatism on their platforms. The House Judiciary Committee has called in the tech giants for a hearing in response to online hate speech and racially motivated violence, including the New Zealand mosque shooting in March.
Democrats introduce bill to restore net neutrality
Democrats have revealed a bill that aims to restore net neutrality rules. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer were among the senators and congresspeople who announced the Save the Internet Act Wednesday. It's being introduced in both the House and the Senate and aims to codify the previous protections in law. Schumer called it a "real bipartisan effort," and hearings on the legislation are set to begin next week.
US lawmakers urge Google to reconsider Huawei partnership
In the wake of national security concerns over Huawei's interest in entering the US market, legislators from both the Senate and the House sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai urging him to reconsider working with the Chinese phone maker, who made Google's Nexus 6P.
California to require solar panels on most new homes
There's no question that solar power is entering the mainstream, but California is about to give it a giant boost. The state's Energy Commission is expected to approve new energy standards that would require solar panels on the roofs of nearly all new homes, condos and apartment buildings from 2020 onward. There will be exemptions for homes that either can't fit solar panels or would be blocked by taller buildings or trees, but you'll otherwise have to go green if your property is brand new.
Watch Mark Zuckerberg's second day of congressional testimony at 10AM ET
After Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent several hours answering questions from dozens of senators yesterday, he'll face the House Energy and Commerce Committee this morning. Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify at 10AM ET and you can watch the proceedings live via the committee's website right here. As was the case yesterday, Bloomberg's TicToc will be livestreaming the hearing on Twitter and several other outlets will have YouTube and Facebook feeds. We've embedded the YouTube broadcast from PBS News Hour down below for easy access.
Senate committee asks Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify on privacy
The list of people that want to hear from social media giants in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal keeps getting longer. Senator Ron Wyden wants to know how the data collection happened in the first place, and Facebook talked to Congressional staffers last week. The FTC is investigating the whole debacle, as well. Mark Zuckerberg is predictably sorry. Now the Senate Judiciary Committee has invited the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter to testify on April 10th over data privacy procedures.
House passes contentious anti-online sex trafficking bill
Sex-trafficking victims, prosecutors and state attorneys will be able to sue websites that host ads and content linked to the sex trade under the bill the House has just approved. The bill called "Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017" or FOSTA seeks to amend Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which protects websites from lawsuits over user-generated posts. It was filed by Rep. Ann Wagner (pictured above) to target websites like Backpage, which hosts sex and child trafficking ads. Previous investigations have revealed that Backpage went as far as editing posters' ads -- it replaced words in ads trafficking minors with terms like "fresh," for instance -- to conceal evidence from law enforcement.
Huawei's AT&T deal may have failed due to political pressure
Just yesterday, a deal between Huawei and AT&T to sell the Chinese company's flagship phones through the carrier's US stores was reported to have fallen through. According to The Information, the plan was scrapped over political pressure from US lawmakers who saw Huawei as a security threat.
Congressional internet privacy bill would counter FCC rollbacks
The US House of Representatives may have voted to roll back the FCC's privacy rules and let internet providers sell your browser history without your explicit permission, but there's a proper replacement waiting in the wings... maybe. Tennessee Representative Marsha Blackburn has proposed a bill, the Browser Act, that would have both internet providers and content providers (like Facebook or Google) get your permission before selling data. They couldn't refuse service if you disagreed, either. The measure would theoretically please both privacy advocates as well as those telecoms that saw the FCC's ISP-only regulation as unfair, such as AT&T. However, there are still serious areas of concern -- it's possible that this bill would anger both sides.
