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A trio of Democratic Senators has taken this administration's first stab at Section 230 reform with a new bill that would make platforms, including giants such as Facebook and Twitter, liable for certain limited categories of dangerous content. Unfortunately, although the bill's authors try to thread a tricky needle carefully, critics warn that bad-faith actors could nonetheless easily weaponize the bill as written against both platforms and other users. The bill (PDF), dubbed the SAFE TECH Act, seeks not to repeal Section 230 (as some Republicans have proposed) but instead to amend it with new definitions of speakers and new exceptions from the law's infamous liability shield. Further ReadingThe Internet’s most important—and misunderstood—law, explained "A law meant to encourage service providers to develop tools and policies to support effective moderation has instead conferred sweeping immunity on online providers even when they do nothing to address foreseeable, … [Read more...] about Proposed Sec. 230 rewrite could have wide-ranging consequences

Like plenty of other congressional committees this week, the House Financial Services Committee met Wednesday to press forward on the latest pandemic relief package. Unlike those other committees, however, this one had the floating head of an upside-down congressman. It’s not unusual for lawmakers to appear virtually for committee hearings much anymore due to the coronavirus pandemic. But it is unusual for them to stream in as a bodiless apparition. Asking to speak during Wednesday’s hearing, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) appeared flipped upside-down while making a standard statement on the underlying measure. “Mr. Emmer, are you okay?” Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) asked. “I am,” Emmer responded. “I don’t know what happened. It just came out this way. I turned it off and turned it back on and I’m still... okay.” I am not a cat. pic.twitter.com/d4lhQd0sJ4 — Tom Emmer (@RepTomEmmer) February 10, 2021 With everything moving online — from birthday parties to congressional … [Read more...] about Floating virtual lawmaker pauses relief meeting

Made-in-India Twitter alternative Koo has announced that Indian entrepreneurs like BookMyShow CEO and co-founder Ashish Hemrajani, Bounce CEO and co-founder Vivekananda, Zerodha co-founder and CIO Nikhil Kamat along with others will be investing in the company. The recent investment of $4.1 mn in Bombinate Technologies – Koo’s parent company--was led by 3one4 Capital, an Indian investor. “Shunwei had not participated in the latest round of funding. Shunwei that had invested in the company for the earlier product Vokal which answers user questions in Indian languages, will be exiting fully with the new investors buying their stake. Existing investors including 3one4 Capital, Kalaari and others will also be buying out some of the stake,” said Koo in a statement. For those unaware, Koo is a new made in India Twitter alternative with focus on local languages. The social media platform is very similar to Twitter and calls itself ‘the voice of India’. Instead of the Blue … [Read more...] about Zerodha, BookMyShow, Bounce founders to invest in desi Twitter alternative Koo

Questioning Apple's privacy policies has become a bicameral proposition. Twenty-four hours after researchers provided a new open-source tool for iPhone users to view their phone's logged location history , Senator Al Franken (D-MN) and Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) have both issued sets of questions for Apple CEO Steve Jobs. While Franken's letter requests a "prompt" response, Markey wants answers "within fifteen business days." Markey has long been a leading voice on tech questions, and has previously chaired key committees related to tech issues, so his letter was hardly a surprise. Indeed, in June 2010, Markey co-authored another set of questions for Steve Jobs on the issues of privacy and location-based services. Apple's response last summer (PDF) went into considerable detail about how Apple generates and handles such information. Apple describes how, if location-based services are on, the iPhone will collect both cell tower and WiFi network data, collate it into a … [Read more...] about Rep. Ed Markey wants privacy answers from Steve Jobs (again)

Last year, House Judiciary Committee lawmakers topped off a yearslong investigation into anti-competitive behavior in the tech industry by bringing in some of the most powerful chief executives in the market. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai headlined one of the biggest must-watch hearings last summer and they faced tough lines of questioning from lawmakers who (for the most part) did their homework, prepped with thousands of pages of evidence alleging illegal business practices. Join us on March 1st at 2PM for a virtual event about tech regulation and antitrust — featuring a keynote and Q&A from Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Sign up here! Lawmakers shined a light on some of tech’s shady business practices, and now they’re getting ready to finish the job. On Thursday, the House Judiciary’s subcommittee on antitrust returned for a far less flashy hearing with experts. It’s the beginning of a second and far more … [Read more...] about The House’s three big ideas to take on tech power