May 18, 2023, Covington Alert
Today, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Gonzalez v. Google LLC, a case about whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (47 U.S.C. § 230) protected YouTube’s recommendation algorithms from a claim of secondary liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). In a
Continue Reading The U.S. Supreme Court Punts on Section 230 in Gonzalez v. Google LLCOn Tuesday, February 14, 2023, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “Protecting Our Children Online.” The witnesses included only consumer advocates, and no industry representatives. As Committee Chair, however, Senator Durbin (D-IL) indicated that he plans to hold another hearing featuring representatives from technology companies.
The key takeaway was that there continues to be strong bipartisan support for passing legislation that addresses privacy and online safety for minors. Both Senator Durbin and Senator Graham (R-SC), the Committee’s Ranking Member, were in agreement that the Committee will mark up relevant legislation, which could happen within the next six months—making the next couple months particularly important for negotiations. Notably, all of the previously introduced legislation that was discussed had passed at least its respective Senate Committee last Congress.
Senators focused on four bills that could be included as part of a legislative package:
Continue Reading Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Children’s Online Safety
This quarterly update summarizes key legislative and regulatory developments in the fourth quarter of 2022 related to Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), the Internet of Things (“IoT”), connected and autonomous vehicles (“CAVs”), and data privacy and cybersecurity.
Artificial Intelligence
In the last quarter of 2022, the annual National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”), which contained AI-related provisions, was enacted into law. The NDAA creates a pilot program to demonstrate use cases for AI in government. Specifically, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (“Director of OMB”) must identify four new use cases for the application of AI-enabled systems to support modernization initiatives that require “linking multiple siloed internal and external data sources.” The pilot program is also meant to enable agencies to demonstrate the circumstances under which AI can be used to modernize agency operations and “leverage commercially available artificial intelligence technologies that (i) operate in secure cloud environments that can deploy rapidly without the need to replace operating systems; and (ii) do not require extensive staff or training to build.” Finally, the pilot program prioritizes use cases where AI can drive “agency productivity in predictive supply chain and logistics,” such as predictive food demand and optimized supply, predictive medical supplies and equipment demand, predictive logistics for disaster recovery, preparedness and response.
At the state level, in late 2022, there were also efforts to advance requirements for AI used to make certain types of decisions under comprehensive privacy frameworks. The Colorado Privacy Act draft rules were updated to clarify the circumstances that require controllers to provide an opt-out right for the use of automated decision-making and requirements for assessments of profiling decisions. In California, although the California Consumer Privacy Act draft regulations do not yet cover automated decision-making, the California Privacy Protection Agency rules subcommittee provided a sample list of related questions concerning this during its December 16, 2022 board meeting.Continue Reading U.S. AI, IoT, CAV, and Privacy Legislative Update – Fourth Quarter 2022
On Monday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Gonzalez v. Google LLC, 2 F.4th 871 (9th Cir. 2021) on the following question presented: “Does section 230(c)(1) immunize interactive computer services when they make targeted recommendations of information provided by another information content provider, or only limit the liability of
Continue Reading Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Gonzalez v. Google, Marking First Time Court Will Review Section 230By Terrell McSweeny, Megan Crowley, Nicholas Xenakis, Alexandra Cooper-Ponte & Madeline Salinas on September 28, 2022
On September 16, the Fifth Circuit issued its decision in NetChoice L.L.C. v. Paxton, upholding Texas HB 20, a law that limits the ability of large social media platforms to moderate
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Upholds Texas Law Restricting Online “Censorship”Today, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it anticipates proposing a privacy rulemaking this month, with comments closing in August. This announcement follows the agency’s statement in December that it planned to begin a rulemaking to “curb lax security practices, limit privacy abuses, and ensure that algorithmic decision-making does
Continue Reading FTC Announces Plans to Begin Privacy Rulemaking In JuneOn January 27, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) that would require internet service providers (“ISPs”) to display labels disclosing certain service information, including prices, introductory rates, data allowances, broadband speeds, and network management practices. Notably, the NPRM proposes to adopt—with some modifications—the
Continue Reading FCC Proposes to Require Broadband “Nutrition Labels”; Comments Due March 9
Last Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) announced that it will consider a Report and Order at its June 21, 2021 open meeting that would permit the importation and conditional sale of radiofrequency (RF) devices prior to obtaining equipment authorization in some circumstances. The consumer electronics industry has advocated for