CLIPS: 31 March, 2022
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Digital Markets Act Passes With Support from Digital Rights Groups, But Fears About Encryption Standards Remain
Last Thursday, EU policymakers announced they have reached a critical milestone on the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a proposed EU regulation that will become law in the coming weeks. The DMA primarily imposes new regulations on “gatekeeper” platforms, large companies that “provide certain services such as browsers, messengers, or social media, which have at least 45 million monthly end users in the EU and 10,000 annual business users.” Among its provisions are a ban on self-preferencing, and a new requirement for explicit consent when combining personal data for targeted advertising, similar to how the GDPR treats cookie consent. Fines for violation are a substantial increase from the GDPR’s 4% — to up to 10% of global revenues.
While the final text of the bill hasn’t been released, policymakers have also made clear that the latest version of the bill will prioritize interoperability between messaging services, meaning users will be able to send messages across different platforms. Proponents of interoperability say it’s the foundation for self-determination on the Internet, while some security experts have expressed concerns that requiring compatibility between messaging services will complicate encryption and ultimately start a race to the bottom on security features.
In related news, on Thursday competition experts and regulators met at the Competition & Regulation in Disrupted Times conference in Brussels. Speakers included Jonathan Kanter, Lina Khan, Tim Wu, and Thierry Breton, along with a number of notable academics and experts in tech and antitrust. #disuptedtimes22
COVERAGE
New York Times, E.U. Takes Aim at Big Tech’s Power With Landmark Digital Act
CNBC, EU targets U.S. tech giants with a new rulebook aimed at curbing their dominance
Politico, EU negotiators agree new rules to rein in tech giants
Economist, Will the Digital Markets Act help Europe breed digital giants?
The Verge, New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other, smaller platforms
The Guardian, EU agrees sweeping new digital rules in effort to curb big tech’s power
CNN, EU officials agree on sweeping new rules targeting Big Tech
Ars Technica, EU announces Big Tech crackdown, demands interoperability between platforms
Wired, Europe's Digital Markets Act Takes a Hammer to Big Tech
Techcrunch, Europe says yes to messaging interoperability as it agrees on major new regime for Big Tech
Engadget, European Union reaches provisional agreement on antitrust law targeting tech giants
Protocol, The DMA is a BFD
RESPONSES
The Electronic Frontier Foundation tweeted, “The European Union just struck an important deal on the Digital Markets Act, recognizing that only a just and interoperable market can ensure fair competition and more choice for users.”
They continued, tweeting, “Online behavioral targeting is almost single-handedly responsible for the worst privacy problems on the internet today.”
Alex Stamos, from the Stanford Internet Observatory, tweeted, “Yes. Like I told Casey, having regulation that says ‘Your networks must be completely open with no privacy or security downsides’ is the same as regulating ‘Doctors must cure cancer with no potential risks or harms’. It's easy to pass laws when you handwave away the tradeoffs!”
René Repasi, a law professor and European parliament member, tweeted, “On the #DMA: we opened the door for #interoperability, being the most important instrument to empower end users to make use of their rights of choice. We got it for messenger services and it will be stretched over time. The COM has to develop standards for social networks.”
Accountable Tech tweeted, “The finalization of the #DMA shows that it is possible to #ReinInBigTech. US lawmakers must step up or else the rules will be written without us.”
Co-Founder Jesse Lehrich issued a statement in response to the DMA, saying, “The agreement struck Thursday finalizing the Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a transformational moment in the movement to rein in Big Tech’s monopoly abuses – not just in the EU, but globally”
Alex Petros, policy counsel at Public Knowledge, tweeted, “We have that same level of bipartisan, bicameral cooperation to rein in Big Tech right here in America. Bills like @SenAmyKlobuchar’s AICO are marked up and ready to go. It’s time to make our own laws and show the world that the US is ready to lead again.”
Tanya O´Carroll, co-founder of Amnesty Tech, tweeted, “This means that together the #DMA & #DSA will be major steps to rein in #surveillanceads: DMA reinforces consent & bolsters GDPR (linking this to EC enforcement so no more Irish bottleneck) DSA prohibits targeting ads to minors + use of sensitive data for ad targeting”
DOJ Endorsement for Self-Preferencing Bill Adds Momentum For Antitrust Reform
On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice sent letters endorsing the American Innovation and Choice Online Act to lawmakers on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, calling it a sign of “the Biden administration’s first full-throated support of the antitrust measure.” As we previously highlighted, the AICOA aims to prohibit large online platforms from self-preferencing their own goods over competitors’. It passed out of committee earlier this month, with support from groups including Demand Progress, Public Citizen, and the American Economic Liberties Project; criticism from the Chamber of Progress and NetChoice; and unanswered questions from Free Press and CDT about the impact on moderating harmful content.
The announcement is a buoy for advocacy efforts for both the AICOA and the Open App Markets Act, both part of an April 4 day of action planned by Fight for the Future, Demand Progress, Public Citizen, Consumer Reports, Public Knowledge, Accountable Tech, and others. Also fueling calls for antitrust reform this week are a Reuters exclusive about a DOJ probe into Google Maps, and CNBC reporting that the Connected Commerce Council, an organization funded by Google and Amazon, is misrepresenting its small business constituency.
Finally, this week President Biden unveiled a new $5.8 trillion budget proposal, which includes a proactive $227 million boost in funding for antitrust enforcement (increasing funding for the DOJ's antitrust division by $88 million, and by $139 million for the FTC).
COVERAGE
Wall Street Journal, Antitrust Bill Targeting Amazon, Google, Apple Gets Support From DOJ
The Hill, DOJ endorses antitrust legislation aimed at Big Tech
Bloomberg, Justice Department Backs Senate Bill to Regulate Tech Platforms
Ars Technica, Antitrust bill in Senate would help rein in Big Tech platforms, DOJ says
Protocol, DOJ urges Congress to zero in on Google and Amazon antitrust
Daily Dot, Biden DOJ says it supports Congress’ new efforts to rein in big tech
Input, DOJ backs antitrust bill to limit self-preferencing in Big Tech
RESPONSES
Accountable Tech tweeted, “As the DOJ's letter to the Senate reads: ‘The Department views the rise of dominant platforms as presenting a threat to open markets and competition, with risks for consumers, businesses, innovation, resiliency, global competitiveness, and our democracy.’”
Alex Petros tweeted, “The letter is the boldest statement yet for the Biden Administration’s support of the @SenAmyKlobuchar / @RepCicilline competition agenda. Supporters like @publicknowledge are energized by the clear momentum behind the bills as they move ever closer to a floor vote.”
Policy analyst for the Facebook Oversight Board, Zamaan Qureshi, tweeted, “Good news: Justice Dept backs antitrust bill targeting Amazon, Google, Apple, AND Facebook.”
Tech reporter for the Washington Post, Cristiano Lima, tweeted, “If Republicans retake the House, yes there'll be probes/hearings, but many of the most threatening bills to rein in the tech giants will be DOA. And GOP Section 230 bills targeting 'bias' will go nowhere as long as Dem votes are needed in Senate.”
Director of Fight for the Future, Evan Greer, retweeted Lima, adding: “Largely agree with this assessment. This is why we are organizing AntitrustDay.org because #OAMA and #AICOA would ACTUALLY do some good and reduce the power and harm of Big Tech, they have a real chance of passing, and they may be the only shot we get for a long time…”
FFTF tweeted, “On April 4, businesses, civil society organizations, and everyday internet users are uniting for #AntitrustDay. For us to take back control of our digital lives, Big Tech’s reign must come to an end. Tell Congress to support the tech antitrust bills.”
Maria Langholz, Communications Director at Demand Progress, tweeted, “We are approaching a make-or-break moment for revitalizing our democracy and restoring fair competition to our economy -- companies like @amazon & @Meta have too much power. That's why on April 4th, we're mobilizing & calling on Congress to rein in their monopolistic power!”
Competition Policy Director at Public Knowledge, Charlotte Slaiman, tweeted, “Congratulations to European colleagues on getting the #DMA agreed to! I hope this will inspire American policymakers to get back in the fight for our own proposals to #ReinInBigTech here at home. On April 4, consumers and innovators are joining together for #AntitrustDay.”
NetChoice tweeted, “The American Innovation and Choice Online Act would make it illegal for retailers above a certain size to effectively promote and sell their store brand goods. This means less expensive goods sold online would be more difficult to search for.”
Chamber of Progress tweeted, “As new tech regulations make there way through Congress, there needs to be a serious debate about their impact on the average voter. Unfortunately, consumers are being left out of the conversation.”
Matt Stoller, Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project, tweeted, “I mean it won't surprise anyone but Google and Facebook regularly engage in forms of political fraud, like grabbing random small businesses and sticking their names on made-up trade associations lobbying against antitrust actions.”
Amazon Union Vote Underway, While New Reports of Worker Dissatisfaction Emerge At Tesla
Two highly anticipated Amazon union votes are finally taking place at Amazon warehouses in Alabama and New York. A re-vote was held after the National Labor Relations Board ruled Amazon inappropriately interfered in the Bessemer, Alabama warehouse’s election last March to unionize with the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. The vote to decide whether Staten Island’s JFK8 warehouse will unionize with the Amazon Labor Union concluded on March 30. A second Staten Island warehouse, LDJ5, will hold an election at the end of April.
This past month, workers at several companies, including tech workers at the New York Times and Google Fiber contractors, successfully unionized. Whatever happens with the Amazon warehouse votes, don’t expect those union elections to be the final word – AFL-CIO Union President Liz Shuler recently said it would seek to boost efforts from the Teamsters (which is not affiliated with the federation) to organize more Amazon facilities.
Meanwhile, amidst allegations of racism and harassment at Tesla, CEO Elon Musk taunted the United Auto Workers, challenging them to organize a union election and noting recent corruption allegations. The invitation comes after repeated attempts by Tesla to overturn a ruling that it violated federal labor laws.
COVERAGE
CNBC, Amazon faces another high-stakes union election as vote kicks off in Staten Island
New York Times, Mandatory Meetings Reveal Amazon's Approach to Resisting Unions
The Hill, Staten Island Amazon workers chart their own path in union drive
Washington Post, Amazon workers in Staten Island vote on whether to unionize
Los Angeles Times, Black Tesla employees describe a culture of racism: 'I was at my breaking point'
New Republic, Amazon Warehouses Are Relentless, Dangerous Workplaces—but It's Hard to Punish Them for It, Thanks to Bill Clinton
Politico, Labor movement takes stock of its moment
CNET, Amazon Union Efforts: What to Expect From Votes This Month
Protocol, Amazon unions: Bessemer, Staten Island vote counts
CNBC, Google Fiber contractors in Kansas City are first to unionize under Alphabet Worker Union
CNBC, Amazon hired an influential Democratic pollster to fight Staten Island union drive
RESPONSE
Robert Reich, former U.S Secretary of Labor, tweeted, “Amazon is pulling out all the stops to bust a unionizing effort in Staten Island.The top organizers were arrested and the company is bombarding workers with anti-union propaganda. Solidarity with every Amazon worker as they begin casting their ballots today. We're with you.”
Service Employees International Union tweeted, “THIS is why @amazon workers in Alabama have been fighting for a union. We should feel safe at work!: ‘Workers at an Alabama Amazon facility were allegedly told to keep working Friday as potentially vaporized oil spread throughout a series of floors.’”
Sandeep Vaheesan, Legal Director at Open Markets Institute, tweeted, “In this excellent piece in @newrepublic, my colleague @brian_callaci shows how Amazon's success is built on labor extraction. On top of OSHA action, FTC should treat low prices derived from exploitation of workers as an unfair method of competition.”
Alphabet Workers United tweeted, “Google relies on a split workforce—one where some workers have full employee status while others are denied the pay & benefits they are due. That is why we're so excited for the Kansas City Google Fiber contract workers to hit the negotiating table ASAP.”
Athena Coalition tweeted, “Amazon's union busting tactics? misinformation while you pee (when u get to pee), paid anti union consultants, mandatory anti union meetings, threats to wages/benefits for joining, arrests and smearing of organizers, social media ads, phone calls, mailers”
More Perfect Union tweeted, “NYPD colluded with Amazon to arrest @amazonlabor organizers, telling them: ‘We won, you lost.’ Amazon faces a serious legal challenge after union election votes are counted next week”
Reporter at More Perfect Union, Jordan Zakarin, tweeted, “Amazon called the NYPD to arrest three union organizers for delivering some grilled chicken and pasta for workers at the warehouse. Fun fact: At about the same time, Amazon management was having 200+ sandwiches delivered for themselves”’
OUP USA Guild, a union at New York’s Oxford University Press, tweeted, “So proud of our colleagues at Condé Nast going public with their union! Solidarity with the employees fighting for a better workplace #UnionStrong”
Reporting of Facebook’s Campaign Against TikTok Demonstrates Close Ties with GOP
On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported they’d obtained company emails revealing Facebook hired Republican consulting firm Targeted Victory to run a smear campaign against TikTok. The effort reportedly included “placing op-eds and letters to the editor in major regional news outlets, promoting dubious stories about alleged TikTok trends that actually originated on Facebook, and pushing to draw political reporters and local politicians into helping take down its biggest competitor.”
These revelations arrive on the heels of reports last week on the GOP’s “Big Tech Censorship and Data Task Force” meeting, a summit on their tech policy strategy for the upcoming midterm elections. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) both highlighted Section 230 and privacy reforms as central to a strategy focused on increasing platform accountability, limiting liability protections, and decreasing “censorship” online. At the meeting, Rodgers reportedly said that (should Republicans gain the majority in the Fall) her committee would also “invite the executives from social media platforms like Gettr, Parler and Truth Social to testify about the ‘challenges they face’ in getting traction in the marketplace.”
COVERAGE
Washington Post, Facebook paid GOP firm to malign TikTok
The Hill, Facebook paid GOP firm to run campaign against TikTok: report
Politico, Meta paid a GOP consulting firm to drag TikTok through the mud
HuffPost, Meta Paid GOP Consultants To Smear TikTok As It Lost Teens, Emails Show
The Guardian, Facebook owner reportedly paid Republican firm to push message TikTok is ‘the real threat’
Engadget, Meta reportedly paid political consultants to smear TikTok
Dexerto, Facebook reportedly paying for smear campaign against TikTok over “dangerous” trends
RESPONSES
Sleeping Giants tweeted, “How is anyone supposed to trust that Facebook (@meta) can deal with disinformation campaigns when they create them themselves?”
Color of Change tweeted, “In 2018, Facebook hired a firm to discredit us & other civil rights orgs. Now, COC learns they’ve paid a firm to spread misinfo about the platform @tiktok_us - including misinfo that caused real-world fear & anxiety. Who else are they targeting with these tactics?”
Accountable Tech tweeted, “Facebook is calling TikTok harmful for teens. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.”
Washington Post columnist, Taylor Lorenz, broke the story, summarizing her finds in a Twitter thread.
Reporter Drew Harwell responded in a tweet: “This smear campaign shows just how scared Meta is of TikTok. A former high-level Facebooker told us: ‘When Mark [Zuckerberg] identifies a potential existential threat to the company, he’ll work to destroy it.’”
Evan Greer responded in a tweet: “Fantastic reporting. It's so important to expose stuff like this. The ‘techlash’ is more than justified, but we need to be savvy about where various narratives are coming from. AT&T and Comcast have been behind a lot of cynical & disingenuous attacks on Section 230, for example.”
Research Director at the Shorenstein Center, Joan Donovan, tweeted, “We had a case study half written about the ‘slap a teacher challenge’ that was popular in the media, but not viral on TikTok. @drewharwell and @TaylorLorenz explain how this PR campaign turned it into a moral panic. Looks like we can wrap this case study up finally!”
Platform Regulation Director at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center, Daphne Keller, tweeted, “Good lord, @Meta. You keep doing this and you keep getting caught. Or maybe you've succeeded in not getting caught so many times, it makes the occasional mortifying story like this worthwhile?”
Co-founder of All the Citizens and the Facebook Oversight Board, Carole Cadwalldr, tweeted, “Where do you even begin with this? Facebook paid a Republican oppo research firm to smear TikTok including planting fake news in mainstream outlets. Black PR, overseen by @nickclegg, & at this point, journalists need to treat entire press team as disinfo.”
Jason Kint tweeted, “Wow, Facebook yet to find an ounce of ethics. Likely Andy Stone’s baby here as he doubles down keeping with Zuckerberg’s new fighting way. I can’t see why press didn’t just put Stone in their spam filters after prior update cover-ups. Definers 2.0 here.”
In his Platformer blog, Casey Newton wrote, “For years employees were told that if they didn’t build the next Facebook, someone else would… You can respond to that pressure by competing out in the open, rallying people to your side with honesty and innovation. Or you can pay an army of hacks to operate in the shadows, shanking your enemies under assumed names and praying that it never comes back on you.”
Editor at Tech Policy Press, Justin Hendrix, tweeted, “You know what they say, ‘If you can't beat'em, drag them through the mud with derogatory claims that could apply to your own products and services then add a dash of xenophobia for good measure.’”
OPEN TABS
U.S. and European leaders reach deal on trans-Atlantic data privacy (New York Times)
The FTC sues TurboTax to stop ‘misleading’ ads for free tax prep software (The Verge)
Apple, Meta Gave User Data to Hackers With Forged Legal Requests (AAPL, FB) (Bloomberg)
As White House Warns of Cybersecurity Threats, 600,000 Jobs Are Open (Bloomberg)
Hearing On "Connecting America: Oversight of the FCC"(House Committee on Energy & Commerce)