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Critics say Spotify is not going far enough to combat the spread of misinformation in content shared on the streaming platform, stemming from backlash to false and misleading claims about COVID-19 said on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast.
Meanwhile, senators reintroduced a controversial bipartisan bill to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. And President Biden’s nominee to fill an open spot on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Gigi Sohn, was pulled from the schedule for a Senate markup on Wednesday.
Let’s jump into the news.
Spotify’s misinformation response in spotlight
Spotify’s response to COVID-19 misinformation on Joe Rogan’s highly popular podcast has critics singing a familiar tune: Simply warning users about problematic content is not enough.
The streaming service’s decision not to remove “The Joe Rogan Experience” in the wake of false and misleading claims places the company in the middle of a moderation battle that social media giants have been fighting for years.
“It’s nice to welcome Spotify to the table, but unless they come up with a policy that also has a clear enforcement mechanism for when somebody repeatedly breaks that policy — it’s not enough — it’s basically meaningless,” said Bridget Todd, director of communications at UltraViolet.
The ‘Facebook playbook’: Spotify is using what Syracuse University associate professor Jennifer Grygiel called the “Facebook playbook” — distancing itself from the responsibility to moderate content it distributes.
“We know we have a critical role to play in supporting creator expression while balancing it with the safety of our users,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in a statement Sunday. “In that role, it is important to me that we don’t take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them.”
But the streaming service’s business model is entirely different from the social media company’s, Grygiel said.
A MESSAGE FROM CISCO
How did privacy become mission critical for organizations across the world? Find out how organizations view privacy and privacy laws in Cisco’s 2022 Data Privacy Benchmark Study
Senators reintroduce Section 230 bill
Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) reintroduced legislation Tuesday that would carve out liability protections for online platforms that have child sexual abuse content.
The Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (EARN IT) Act was advanced unanimously through the Senate Judiciary Committee in the summer of 2020 but was not given a floor vote before the end of the legislative calendar.
“We have been planning for a long time [to reintroduce it],” Blumenthal told The Hill Tuesday. “We now have an overwhelming number of co-sponsors.”
The bill is set to be marked up in the Senate Judiciary Committee as early as this Thursday, the Connecticut lawmaker added.
The EARN IT Act would amend Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, opening the door for federal and state lawsuits against online companies that host child sexual exploitation content.
Section 230 gives online companies liability protection for content posted by third parties on their platforms and allows for good faith content moderation.
Despite receiving bipartisan support in Congress, the EARN IT Act has been roundly criticized by industry groups and a broad coalition of civil rights groups.
SOHN PULLED FROM COMMERCE MARKUP
President Biden’s nominee to fill a spot at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Gigi Sohn, was pulled from the Senate Commerce Committee’s Wednesday markup, a Senate aide told The Hill.
The committee failed to advance Sohn last year, with the nominee facing pushback from Republicans over past comments she’s made about conservative media.
Biden renominated her, and his Federal Trade Commission (FTC) nominee Alvaro Bedoya, at the start of the year.
The Senate aide said they did not know when another debate on Sohn will be scheduled for.
The confirmation on pulling Sohn’s nomination comes after Sen. Ben Ray Luján’s (D-N.M.) office announced the senator was hospitalized after suffering a stroke last week. The senator is expected to make a full recovery but is still at the hospital.
Democrats would likely have needed Luján to advance Sohn’s nomination if Republicans continued their pushback.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) already reupped her criticism in a tweet Tuesday calling Sohn a “radical nominee” and accusing her of threatening to “use the federal government to silence conservative outlets.”
Meanwhile, tech advocacy groups have been pushing for Democrats to take action on Sohn’s nomination amid a 2-2 party line split at the FCC.
POLL FINDS BROAD SUPPORT FOR COMPETITIVENESS BILL
A bill moving through Congress seeking to boost the domestic semiconductor industry and make the U.S. more competitive against China has broad support among likely voters, according to a new survey from a liberal polling firm.
The Data for Progress poll, which was first obtained by The Hill, found that 73 percent of likely voters “somewhat” or “strongly” support the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, or USICA, a Senate-passed measure that would invest $52 billion in domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
Support for the bill is highest among Democrats, the survey found, with 84 percent saying they support the bill, compared to 71 percent of independents polled and 63 percent of Republicans.
Overall, 16 percent oppose the legislation and 10 percent said they weren’t sure about it.
The new data comes as the White House is urging Congress to pass the China competitiveness legislation “as soon as possible.”
A MESSAGE FROM CISCO
How did privacy become mission critical for organizations across the world? Find out how organizations view privacy and privacy laws in Cisco’s 2022 Data Privacy Benchmark Study
White House cyber official goes to Europe
The White House is dispatching its top cyber official to Europe for meetings with allies on countering cyberthreats from Russia, a senior Biden administration official said.
Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, is expected to meet with her European Union counterparts and NATO representatives in Brussels this week, according to the official.
Neuberger will also travel to Warsaw to meet with Polish and Baltic officials and members of the Bucharest Nine, which includes the NATO members Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
“Across all of these engagements, our focus is on ensuring that the United States and our Allies and partners are prepared for any cyber-related contingency and prepared to respond in the current environment,” the official said. “We will also discuss how we will coordinate and support Ukraine, and each other, in the event that cyberattacks occur.”
FBI issues cyber warning ahead of Olympics
The FBI’s cyber division warned in a private industry notification dated Monday that cyber actors could “disrupt” the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics set to start on Friday, in addition to next month’s Paralympics.
“The FBI is warning entities associated with the February 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and March 2022 Paralympics that cyber actors could use a broad range of cyber activities to disrupt these events,” the agency said.
The FBI noted that some of those activities could include ransomware, phishing campaigns, malware and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, among other actions.
The agency also warned against installing apps made by “untrusted vendors,” which “could increase the opportunity for cyber actors to steal personal information or install tracking tools, malicious code, or malware.”
BITS AND PIECES
An op-ed to chew on: Can Joe Rogan save free speech?
Lighter click: What a day, Apple
Notable links from around the web:
Web3 is the future, or a scam, or both (Vox / Peter Kafka)
NSO offered ‘bags of cash’ for access to U.S. cell networks, whistleblower claims (The Washington Post / Craig Timberg)
One last thing: Grindr blocked in China
Chinese officials removed gay dating app Grindr from its Apple App Store, citing compliance issues with China’s Personal Information Protection Law, Bloomberg news reported.
The Personal Information Protection Law, which took effect at the end of 2021, requires that data stored in applications that is transferred to other locations to be approved by government officials. The law also limits the personal information stored in apps.
The popular app also was removed from app market services from Chinese companies such as Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Huawei Technologies Co. Alphabet Inc.’s Google Play Store is unavailable in China.
The move came days after Beijing’s government promised to revive its push to police online content, according to Bloomberg.
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s technology and cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.{mosads}