A key supporter for an age minimum on social media is not giving up hope that such a provision could be included in a potential compromise online safety package after the midterm elections. Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., whose original age-minimum bill was amended in committee to replace the age minimum with a related parental consent […]

More than a year has passed since permanent authority for cybersecurity information-sharing protections expired, and there’s little sign that a standoff in the Senate over the law will end this Congress. A long-term extension of the law, titled the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, has bipartisan backing. If Democrats win control of the Senate […]

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., released a framework for artificial intelligence regulation Wednesday that includes a major role for the federal government in setting safety standards and testing models for catastrophic risk. The six-point framework, which does not include legislative text, stands in contrast to a focus from the White House and […]

In a stance that puts him at odds with much of his party and the White House, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., used a Senate hearing on Wednesday to call for new artificial intelligence regulations, including through his own upcoming legislation that would clarify liability for “rogue” AI hacking incidents. At the hearing on national security […]

Following a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump and technology moguls, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Tuesday pushed back on calls to impose regulations on artificial intelligence, even as news of worrisome AI models hacking into government databases become increasingly common and the public grows more skeptical of the technology. And while […]

A bipartisan group of senators is pushing the Commerce Department to release long-delayed guidance for states seeking to use remaining funds from a $42 billion broadband grant program. In a letter first shared with CQ Roll Call, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., with Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine; Angus King, I-Maine.; Bill Cassidy, R-La.; Catherine […]

Flock cameras are under new scrutiny in the Senate as a privacy backlash against the law enforcement technology grows. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s panel on Crime and Counterterrorism will hold a hearing on Wednesday focused on the automated license plate readers, subcommittee Chairman Josh Hawley, R-Mo., announced Friday. He invited the CEOs of Flock and three […]

The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved, 18-10, legislation by Chairman Ted Cruz that would limit government coercion of broadcasters and online platforms, despite concerns about its impact on conversations with artificial intelligence platforms. Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., voted with the committee’s Republicans to advance the bill. […]

In the wake of recent dire warnings from industry about the national security risks of frontier artificial intelligence models, lawmakers have been quick to express concern and call for industry or legislative guardrails. But action before the midterm elections looks unlikely as neither party has coalesced around a legislative plan on AI, or even, in […]

More broadband deployment funding could be headed to states to serve locations missed in earlier rounds of a $42 billion federal grant program. The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced Thursday that it plans to accept new proposals from states under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. The announcement comes after members […]

Those who’ve fought on Capitol Hill to rein in social media platforms see last week’s settlement between Meta and state attorneys general not as a final destination, but as a roadmap to what’s possible. Privacy and First Amendment advocates are worried they’re right. The settlement comes as the House and Senate have taken divergent paths […]

Legislation that would require parental consent for social media platforms to process data for users under 16 advanced out of a House panel on Tuesday, after it was amended to remove a proposed ban on social media accounts for kids. The bill, as amended, won approval by voice vote in the House Energy and Commerce […]

Meta’s massive proposed settlement over claims of social media harm doesn’t remove the need for legislation that would govern use of online platforms by children and teens, two leading lawmakers and advocacy groups said Wednesday. A group of 47 states with the District of Columbia and U.S. territories reached the settlement with the owner of […]

Local television ownership groups could grow after the Federal Communications Commission took a controversial vote to remove the national ownership cap. The FCC voted, 2-1, at its August open meeting Thursday to lift the cap, which limited individual broadcasters’ ownership to stations that in aggregate reached no more than 39 percent of households, replacing it with […]

A bipartisan pair of senators is pushing for more and better data to understand the impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce. That data could help back up what experts told a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday — that the biggest AI-fueled change may be different tasks at work rather than mass unemployment. Sens. Jim Banks, […]

The most powerful frontier artificial intelligence models would need a “kill switch” under new bipartisan legislation released days after a frontier model went rogue to hack another AI company. The bill, introduced Thursday, would also give the Department of Homeland Security new power to order model shutdowns, as AI labs and the federal government wrestle […]

As Congress considers competing House and Senate proposals meant to protect kids online, lawmakers have only to look to their states to understand the challenges in seeking to regulate kids’ social media usage without running afoul of the First Amendment.  States have already tried some of the same strategies Congress is considering, only to see those […]

The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to allow for more consolidation in local television, a move that got pushback from Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz over the role of Congress in changing the television ownership cap. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr announced plans Wednesday to vote to repeal the national broadcast ownership […]

Funds totaling about $20 billion delayed under the federal rural broadband internet program will be subject to new guidance “this summer,” the agency head overseeing the project said Tuesday. National Telecommunications and Information Administration leader Arielle Roth gave lawmakers that timeline at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, where she was pressed about the […]

Online safety legislation focused on children and teens that has come under fire from key senators passed the House Monday, setting the stage for continued wrangling as Congress seeks to address concerns raised by parent and free speech groups. The bipartisan legislation, which Energy and Commerce Committee leadership amended under a compromise last week, passed […]