Josh Hawley
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Senators push FCC to take action on Trump's social media order
Four senators have asked the FCC to act on Trump's order limiting social media protections, but they might not get the answer they want.
Senator asks for criminal investigation into Amazon's alleged data abuse
Senator Josh Hawley is requesting a criminal antitrust investigation into claims that Amazon uses sellers' data to make competing products.
Senate bill would block US companies from storing data in China
US Senator Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) wants to make it illegal for US companies to store user data or encryption keys in China. He also wants to prevent Chinese companies from collecting any more info from American users than is necessary to provide their service. He proposed these measures as part of a new National Security and Personal Data Protection Act announced today.
Senate bill aims to make user data 'portable' across social networks
Three senators think they have a way to address some of the antitrust concerns around social media companies. Today, Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) will introduce a bill that would force social media companies to make user data "portable," so that it can be easily transferred to competing (read: smaller) services.
Senator wants to ban 'addictive' social network features in new bill
Never mind relying on your phone's wellbeing tools to curb your social network addictions -- if one congressman has his way, the law itself would step in. Senator Josh Hawley has introduced a bill, the Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology Act (yes, that's SMART Act), that would ban features deemed to be exploitative. It would primarily forbid infinite scrolling, autoplaying media and achievements that don't "substantially" reward users with more content. There would have to be "natural stopping points" that encourage users to take a break, for hat matter.
Senators ask FTC to investigate how social networks curate content
Republican politicians are taking their allegations of tech industry bias to regulators. Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley have sent a letter to the FTC asking it to investigate how companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter curate content. These firms have "enormous influence," the senators wrote, and have the potential for "alarming and endless" abuses of power. Their ability to amplify or downplay content makes them powerful enough to "sway elections," according to the politicians, but they're reportedly not accountable to customers or voters due to a lack of transparency in their curation processes.
FTC complaint alleges Amazon's Echo Dot Kids violates child privacy law
A month after we found out Amazon employees might listen to your Alexa conversations, Amazon is facing more privacy concerns. This time, they have to do with how the company stores data collected by its Echo Dot Kids. Today, a coalition of privacy and child-advocacy groups plan to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging that Amazon stores kids' conversations and data even after parents attempt to delete it. According to the The Wall Street Journal, the group is asking the FTC to investigate.
Senate bill would ban paid loot boxes in games aimed at kids
Efforts to crack down on loot boxes in the US might be underway in earnest. Senator Josh Hawley has introduced a bill, the Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act, that would bar games from including paid loot boxes, pay-to-win mechanics and other potentially exploitative elements in games that are either aimed at kids under 18 or knowingly let those children make microtransactions. These practices spur "compulsive habits," Hawley said, and developers shouldn't be permitted to "monetize addiction."
