Overnight Tech: Dem questions internet companies on policing content | Amazon gets 238 proposals for second HQ| Google X lobbies up | AT&T, Time Warner extend merger deadline

TOP DEM WANTS ANSWERS FROM TECH COMPANIES: Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is calling on major internet platforms to explain how they police their sites’ content, saying their policies are “vague and applied inconsistently.”

On Monday, Pallone sent a list of questions to the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

{mosads}”The influence of the internet over our national dialogue and our lives has skyrocketed over the past decade,” the letter reads. “At the same time, the number of websites handling this traffic has consolidated to a handful of key platforms. The combination of these trends have led to these few companies taking on a quasi-governmental role policing content, and therefore a large amount of communication, on the internet.”

Pallone said that little is known about how companies review posts and that the “lack of transparency makes it difficult for consumers to understand how content is controlled and for the government to oversee the market.”

The letter cited a series of controversies over how internet platforms enforce their content policies, including Twitter’s decision to briefly lockout actress Rose McGowan after she spoke out about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged history of sexual harassment.

Twitter has said that McGowan violated its privacy policy by posting a person’s phone number.

Pallone also cited the growing controversy around the Russian government’s use of social media sites as part of its alleged campaign to meddle in U.S. politics. Facebook, Twitter and Google will all be testifying before the House and Senate Intelligence committees next week.

Read more here.

 

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AMAZON RECEIVED 238 PITCHES FOR SECOND HEADQUARTERS: Amazon announced Monday that it had received 238 proposals from local officials across North America for its second headquarters in North America.

Jurisdictions have been scrambling to entice Amazon with massive tax breaks to attract the $5 billion in construction investments and 50,000 jobs that would come with the proposed campus.

The deadline for cities to submit their pitches passed earlier this month.

Read more here.

 

AT&T, TIME WARNER EXTEND MERGER DEADLINE: AT&T and Time Warner are extending the deadline for their pending merger as they wait for approval from the Department of Justice.  

Both companies agreed to an extension “for a short period of time to facilitate obtaining final regulatory approval required to close the merger,” according to a filing AT&T made with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

The $85 billion deal had received approval on Wednesday from Brazil, one of the last countries AT&T and Time Warner need to complete the deal. The deal has already been cleared by regulators in Mexico, Chile and Europe.

AT&T still expects the deal to be completed by the end of the year but is waiting to receive clearance from the Justice Department. Experts say the agency is likely to approve the deal because of its tendency to clear vertical mergers between companies in different industries.

Read more here.

 

TECH COMPANIES’ RUSSIA PROBE WITNESSES DRAW CONCERNS: Facebook, Twitter and Google all announced on Thursday that they will send their general counsels to testify at House and Senate Intelligence Committee hearings on Russian election interference — a move that has drawn fire from critics who want more transparency from the tech giants.

The companies’ decision to send their top attorneys marks a step forward. Initially they would not publicly say whether they would attend the hearing, leading the Senate Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), to threaten subpoenas to get the tech giants to testify.

But some observers say that sending the lawyers, instead of top executives or technical experts, could limit how many questions the companies can answer. Critics argue that Facebook, Twitter and Google owe the public a fuller explanation as to what exactly happened on their platforms during the 2016 election, and they believe that explanation should come from the highest executives at the company.

Read more here.

 

ALT-RIGHT FAVORED SOCIAL SITE DROPS GOOGLE LAWSUIT: Gab, the social media site favored by some in the so called alt-right as a “free speech” alternative to Twitter and Facebook, plans to drop its lawsuit against Google for banning its app from the Google Play Store.

Gab said in a blog post Sunday that it had been in “productive back-channel” discussions with Google since it filed the lawsuit against the internet search giant last month.

“We were encouraged to resubmit our app before the Android store, as opposed to going forth with continued expensive litigation, of which would have cost the company a great fortune in both time and resources,” the company said in the post. “Google has instead offered Gab an opportunity to resubmit our application for an appeal to be reviewed for placement on their Google Play Store, which we are in the process of doing as we speak.”

Read more here.

 

PUBLISHERS MAY HAVE TO PROMOTE MORE FACEBOOK CONTENT: Facebook is testing a new update that would move non-promoted posts out of users’ newsfeeds, which could be a major hit to media publishers who use the platform to bring traffic to their websites.

The changes are currently being tested in six countries including Slovakia, Serbia and Sri Lanka, according to Filip Struhárik, a journalist at Slovakian news outlet Dennik N. The alternative version of Facebook shows non-promoted posts in a secondary feed, while Facebook’s primary feed prioritizes content from user’s friends and advertisements.

“Pages are seeing dramatic drops in organic reach,” Struhárik wrote. “The reach of several Facebook pages fell on Thursday and Friday by two-thirds compared to previous days.”

Read more here.

 

 

GOOGLE X LOBBIES UP: Google’s X lab, the company’s testing ground for its most ambitious projects, is hiring its first outside lobbyists, according to a new filing.

The secretive unit of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is bringing on the help of Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm. The firm has represented the interests of tech companies including Intel and Oath and non-profit Mozilla.

According to the filing, the firm will help Google X lobby on “situational analysis of policies relevant to X.”

Read more here.

 

ON TAP:

Bloomberg will hold an event on tech policy featuring FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr at 8:00 a.m.

At 11:25 a.m. during the Bloomberg event, Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) President Dean Garfield will introduce industry-wide principles on artificial intelligence.

The House Science Committee will hold a hearing on quantum technology at 10:00 a.m.

The FCC will hold its monthly open meeting at 10:30 a.m.

Mozilla will hold a cybersecurity event at 1:00 p.m.

The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on new rules for online political advertising at 2:00 p.m.

The House Education and Workforce Committee will hold a hearing on building up the nation’s cyber workforce at 2:00 p.m.

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Stratechery: Why Facebook shouldn’t be allowed to buy tbh

Broadcasting & Cable: The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) wants self-regulation to stop election meddling

Amazon spends $3.4M on lobbying in record quarter

Twitter unveils schedule of updates to curb abuse

House slates hearing on social media political ad disclosures