Hillicon Valley — Panel advances controversial tech bill
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A tech reform proposal widely opposed by digital rights and industry groups advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with unanimous support.
Meanwhile, a California regulatory agency filed a complaint against Tesla over racial discrimination allegations, and Apple said it would update its AirTag product in response to complaints about unwanted tracking.
Let’s jump into the news.
EARN IT act advances
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously advanced a bill aimed at holding tech platforms responsible for the spread of child sexual abuse material, despite widespread opposition from digital rights and industry groups.
The Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (EARN IT) Act would eliminate some of the liability protection given to online platforms under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, opening companies up to federal and state lawsuits for hosting content that exploits children.
It would also create a national commission to develop best practices to address harmful material online.
The committee also advanced the bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), when it was first introduced in 2020 but it never received a floor vote.
The reintroduction of the bill earlier this month has drawn intense backlash.
One of the primary concerns raised by privacy and civil liberties groups is that EARN IT would disincentivize the adoption of strong encryption, which protects communications from government and private surveillance.
California takes on Tesla over allegations
A California state regulatory agency has filed a complaint against electric automaker Tesla over alleged racial discrimination and harassment.
The state Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed its complaint on Wednesday in state court, specifically focusing on alleged workplace problems taking place at the company’s principal Fremont factory, The Wall Street Journal reported,
“After receiving hundreds of complaints from workers, DFEH found evidence that Tesla’s Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace where Black workers are subjected to racial slurs and discriminated against in job assignments, discipline, pay, and promotion creating a hostile work environment,” Kevin Kish, the agency’s director, said in a statement.
Tesla preemptively responded in a blog post earlier this week.
“Tesla has always disciplined and terminated employees who engage in misconduct, including those who use racial slurs or harass others in different ways,” it said. “We recently rolled out an additional training program that reinforces Tesla’s requirement that all employees must treat each other with respect and reminds employees about the numerous ways they can report concerns, including anonymously.”
APPLE TO UPDATE AIRTAGS
Apple announced Thursday that it will be releasing a series of “advancements” to its AirTag product in response to complaints about the devices being used to stalk people, as well as other criminal activity.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products. Unwanted tracking has long been a societal problem, and we took this concern seriously in the design of AirTag,” Apple wrote in its news release.
AirTags are coin-sized devices that cost about $30 and can be attached to keys, purses, wallets or other valuable items to help people find them if they are misplaced.
Apple said in its release that AirTags will be receiving a software update that warns those who are initially linking their AirTags to their Apple iOS device that information can be handed over to authorities at any time.
TEXAS AG INVESTIGATING GOFUNDME
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said Wednesday that his office will investigate GoFundMe’s decision to halt a fundraiser for Canadian truckers protesting COVID-19 mandates.
He said in a statement that his office is investigating the past and present practices of GoFundMe Inc. to determine whether the company is violating the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Paxton added that the crowdfunding platform’s integrity has “come into question after it removed a multimillion-dollar fundraising campaign for the Canadian truckers ‘Freedom Convoy’ which is protesting vaccine mandates.”
He added that GoFundMe’s response to what he called “an anti-mandate, pro-liberty movement” should alarm anyone using the donation platform as well as “any American wanting to protect their constitutional rights,” Paxton said.
“Many Texans donated to this worthy cause. I am acting to protect Texas consumers so that they know where their hard-earned money is going, rather than allowing GoFundMe to divert money to another cause without the consent of Texas citizens. I will get to the bottom of this deceitful action,” he added.
BITS AND PIECES
An op-ed to chew on: Mysterious radio pulses are not from ‘little green men’
Lighter click: The NBA’s most online player
Notable links from around the web:
How ShotSpotter fights criticism and leverages federal cash to win police contracts (NBC News / Jon Schuppe and Joshua Eaton)
Crisis Text Line and the Silicon Valleyfication of Everything (Motherboard / Joanne McNeil)
Facebook Has a Superuser-Supremacy Problem (The Atlantic / Matthew Hindman, Nathaniel Lubin, and Trevor Davis)
Justin Bieber’s NFT Ape Sure Looks Like Monkey Business (The Verge / Elizabeth Lopatto)
One last thing: WH wants equity in EV charging
New guidance from the Biden administration as it prepares to disburse funds to states to build out an electric vehicle charging network asks them to do so with equity in mind.
The guidance document issued on Thursday says that state plans submitted to the federal government to gain access to funds for the charging network “should explain how the State will deliver projects … [that] target at least 40 percent of the benefits towards disadvantaged communities.”
This would put them in line with a White House Initiative called Justice40, which seeks to give at least 40 percent of the benefits of federal investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities.
The report notes that the equity push doesn’t necessarily mean that 40 percent of the chargers need to be located in disadvantaged communities if they can benefit in other ways.
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 Friday.
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