U.S. President Joe Biden speaks throughout a cupboard assembly within the Cabinet Room of the White House January 5, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
President Joe Biden referred to as on Republicans and Democrats in Congress to unite and cross laws that locations new guardrails on the tech business, writing in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Wednesday that the administration’s present authority to rein in Big Tech is not sufficient.
“We need bipartisan action from Congress to hold Big Tech accountable,” Biden wrote.
The op-ed is likely one of the most pointed calls but from the president for Congress to take motion on matters together with digital privateness, competitors and on-line security. The White House has beforehand voiced help for legislative efforts tackling these points and put in progressive enforcers in key companies. But because the final Congress drew to an in depth, probably the most bold tech proposals that had gained some momentum earlier within the yr remained in limbo.
Biden’s name for bipartisanship on tech points is notable for the reason that break up Congress will complicate the panorama for passing laws in any area. The choice to focus the op-ed on tech suggests it could be a uncommon space of hope for progress whereas working throughout the aisle.
Biden targeted on three key areas of tech laws he hopes to see this Congress. First, he urged lawmakers to cross federal privateness protections that restrict the gathering of delicate information and advocated for banning focused promoting to youngsters altogether.
Next, he reiterated a extra tempered model of a name he made on the marketing campaign path in 2020 to “fundamentally reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act,” the regulation that protects on-line platforms from being held liable for his or her customers’ posts whereas preserving their potential to reasonable such content material. He additionally referred to as for extra transparency across the algorithms tech firms use to find out what info customers see to make sure they aren’t pushing unsafe content material to youngsters or discriminating towards teams of customers.
Finally, Biden referred to as for “fairer rules of the road” in the case of competitors within the tech sector.
“When tech platforms get big enough, many find ways to promote their own products while excluding or disadvantaging competitors — or charge competitors a fortune to sell on their platform,” he wrote. “My vision for our economy is one in which everyone — small and midsized businesses, mom-and-pop shops, entrepreneurs — can compete on a level playing field with the biggest companies.”
Biden emphasised all through the piece the actual want to guard youngsters on the web, referencing a line he made in his State of the Union speech final yr, writing, “We must hold social-media companies accountable for the experiment they are running on our children for profit.”
“There will be many policy issues we disagree on in the new Congress, but bipartisan proposals to protect our privacy and our children; to prevent discrimination, sexual exploitation, and cyberstalking; and to tackle anticompetitive conduct shouldn’t separate us,” Biden wrote. “Let’s unite behind our shared values and show the nation we can work together to get the job done.”
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