Big Tech

“Location data is among the most sensitive personal information that a user can share with a company. Today, modern smartphones can reveal location data beyond a mere street address,” the Senators wrote. “We appreciate Facebook’s attempt to proactively inform users about their privacy options. However, we are concerned that Facebook may not in fact be offering users the level of control that the company suggests these settings provide.”

“Your data is your property. Period. Consumers should have the flexibility to choose new online platforms without artificial barriers to entry. This bill creates long-overdue requirements that will boost competition and give consumers the power to move their data from one service to another,” said Sen. Hawley.

“But the FTC’s failure now and in recent years to fully enforce COPPA compliance has us concerned that an update at this time could diminish children and parents’ control of their data or otherwise weaken existing privacy protections. Now is not the time to pull back,” write the Senators in the letter to all five FTC Commissioners. “As children’s use of technology continues to increase, so too does the appetite by tech giants for children’s personal information. Your agency’s obligation is to put consumers’ interests first and enforce the law.”

Today Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission’s five commissioners asking them to release the agency’s 2012 report on Google’s anticompetitive tactics and abuse of monopoly power. Half of the 2012 report was inadvertently disclosed in 2015 and revealed that Google rigged search results to bias its own services over competitors’. In the letter Senator Hawley writes, “I believe the remaining pages likely contain information critical to the public...

Today Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), along with Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.), sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg criticizing the social media company’s recent "independent fact check," false rating, and subsequent censorship of pro-life organization Live Action. In the letter, the Senators note that Facebook’s "independent fact check" was conducted by abortion rights activists who no reasonable person could consider neutral or objective...

”I was proud to launch the first antitrust and privacy investigation of Big Tech by an attorney general two years ago. I’m heartened to see a new group of attorneys general with the courage to stand up to these powerful companies and fight for citizens. Big Tech companies should be held accountable if they are violating our privacy or harming our children or killing innovation.”

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) released the following statement in response to Facebook’s conservative bias audit: “Merely asking somebody to listen to conservatives’ concerns isn’t an ‘audit,’ it’s a smokescreen disguised as a solution. Facebook should conduct an actual audit by giving a trusted third party access to its algorithm, its key documents, and its content moderation protocols. Then Facebook should release the results to the public.” 

Senator Hawley said, “Big tech has embraced a business model of addiction. Too much of the ‘innovation’ in this space is designed not to create better products, but to capture more attention by using psychological tricks that make it difficult to look away. This legislation will put an end to that and encourage true innovation by tech companies.”

Today during a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) grilled Google’s vice president for government affairs and public policy, Karan Bhatia, on a range of subjects including Google’s work on censored search engines in China, YouTube’s curation of content for pedophiles, and whether Google would commit to an independent third-party audit of its content moderation practices.

Today U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to use its section 6(b) authority to investigate how major tech companies curate content due to the “enormous influence” these companies hold over speech and the “alarming and endless” possibilities for abuse.