Hillicon Valley: Cryptocurrency clash complicate’s infrastructure bill’s path forward | FTC hits Facebook over ‘inaccurate’ explanation for banning researchers | Yelp to allow filtering for business requiring vaccination
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As the Senate looks to wrap up the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, competing amendments on cryptocurrency regulation are emerging as another challenge. The White House came out in support of an amendment put forward by a trio of bipartisan senators, but Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and two Republicans who offered an amendment of their own, argued the administration-backed amendment could stifle innovation.
Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is firing back at Facebook just days after the platform said its decision to suspend the accounts of two researchers was, in part, a result of its commitment to the agency.
A CRYPTO CLASH: A debate over competing amendments to regulate cryptocurrency is creating a new hurdle for the Senate to complete work on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
An amendment offered by two Republicans and the Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has stirred controversy and provoked opposition from the White House.
The amendment, which would carve out exemptions from the cryptocurrency reporting requirements outlined in the infrastructure bill, is sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).
The White House supports a different amendment put forward Thursday by Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). It has more narrow exemptions on the proposed regulations of the industry.
“The Warner-Portman-Sinema amendment provides a government-sanctioned safe harbor for the most climate-damaging form of crypto tech, called proof-of-work. It would be a mistake for the climate and for innovation to advance this amendment,” Wyden tweeted.
FTC FIRES BACK: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) slammed Facebook for sharing an “inaccurate” explanation after it suspended the accounts of researchers who have been critical of the platform.
The agency’s acting director of Bureau Consumer Protection, Samuel Levine, sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday calling out the company for using what Levine deemed a misleading claim in its explanation.
“Had you honored your commitment to contact us in advance, we would have pointed out that the consent decree does not bar Facebook from creating exceptions for good-faith research in the public interest. Indeed, the FTC supports efforts to shed light on opaque business practices, especially around surveillance-based advertising,” Levine wrote, according to a copy of the letter shared publicly by the FTC.
PUT A FILTER ON THAT: Business review platform Yelp announced Thursday it is adding COVID-19 guidelines to its business listings, allowing users to filter companies based on vaccination requirements.
The platform said in a blog post that users will be allowed to filter businesses based on whether they require proof of vaccination and whether staff are fully vaccinated.
The company further said it will be monitoring Yelp pages of businesses that activate these attributes for any backlash they receive.
The move comes as businesses and some state and local governments impose stricter vaccine mandates amid an increase in coronavirus infections fueled by the delta variant.
Yelp said that in recent weeks it has seen a rise in “review bombing,” when businesses get a flurry of comments based on people’s opinions about the pandemic rather than their customer experiences.
PUT A MASK ON: Amazon will require that employees wear masks inside its warehouses regardless of whether they have been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“In response to the concerning spread of new COVID-19 variants in the U.S. and guidance from public health authorities and our own medical experts, we are requiring face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told The Hill in a statement on Friday.
Nantel added that the company is “monitoring the situation closely and will continue to follow local government guidance and work closely with leading medical healthcare professionals, gathering their advice and recommendations as we go forward to ensure our buildings are optimized for the safety of our teams.”
Read more about the policy here.
An op-ed to chew on: Deepfake Task Force: The danger of disinformation needs a new collaboration
Lighter click: You’re breaking up
NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB:
DHS boss Mayorkas encourages hackers to join government during Black Hat speech (CyberScoop / Tonya Riley)
How a deepfake Tom Cruise on TikTok turned into a very real AI company (CNN / Rachel Metz)
Facebook cares about privacy — but only If you’re an advertiser (The Atlantic / Ethan Zuckerman)
Ransomware attack forces Indiana hospital to turn patients away (The Daily Beast / Shannon Vavra)
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