Politico

Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) tore into Facebook, calling the company’s stated attitudes on regulation a sham. “What we are hearing from Facebook is platitudes and bromides," Blumenthal stated. "When it says it wants regulation, at the same time it is fighting that regulation tooth and nail, day and night, with armies of lawyers, millions of dollars in lobbying.

Facebook says it does not take the political winds of Washington (DC) into account when deciding what posts to take down or products to launch. But a trove of internal documents shows that Facebook’s own employees are concerned that the company does just that — and that its DC-based policy office is deeply involved in these calls at a level not previously reported.

As Democrats attempt to shrink their social spending plan by hundreds of billions of dollars in order to reach consensus between moderates and progressives, the fate of several of its tech provisions hangs in the balance. House Democrats included a boatload of technology and telecommunications cash in the original $3.5 trillion version of their spending package, which the party is planning to pass without GOP support under a process called reconciliation.

Get ready for speculation over who will take over as top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, whose jurisdiction covers everything from broadband and net neutrality to media ownership and online liability protections, a coveted spot among lawmakers. Rep Mike Doyle (D-PA) replaced Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) as the subcommittee’s top Democrat in 2017 and became chair in 2019. Doyle has prioritized efforts to restore Obama-era net neutrality regulations that were repealed during the Trump years.

Google, Amazon and Microsoft have donated tens of thousands of dollars to key members of the Senate over the past three months. Some of the most significant conversations about the future of tech regulation are moving to the upper chamber, with Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) negotiating with bipartisan lawmakers over tech antitrust legislation and senators considering how to respond to the Senate Commerce Committee’s explosive hearing with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen in October 2021.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the North Carolina Department of Justice are weighing in on a court case that they say uses Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — the law shielding the tech industry from liability for what users post — to skirt around other laws. Consumers filed a lawsuit over inaccurate information on publicdata.com, a website that gathers public information to compile and sell background check reports and is operated by a company called Source for Public Data.

Sen Mike Lee (R-UT), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary antitrust panel, is nowhere to be found on the list of senators sponsoring the bipartisan antitrust bill slated to be introduced next week. The effort, led by Senate Judiciary antitrust Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senate Judiciary ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-IA), is the latest move in Congress’ efforts to rein in the tech giants.