The bipartisan spending bill that passed both chambers of Congress on Friday will ban the popular video sharing app TikTok from government devices.
The bill, which still has to be signed into law by President Joe Biden, also calls on e- commerce platforms to do more vetting to help deter counterfeit goods from being sold online.
Many of the most aggressive bills targeting tech, including antitrust legislation that would require app stores developed by Apple and Google to give developers more payment options, and a measure mandating new guardrails to protect kids online, were not passed by congress. There is only a patchwork of state laws determining how consumer data is protected, despite Congress making more headway this year than in the past towards a compromise bill.
The exclusion of several antitrust bills that would have targeted its backers, including Apple, Amazon and Meta, was applauded by the Chamber of Progress.
The more controversial measures that have raised red flags on issues like content moderation are not included in the omnibus. The American innovation and choice online act was raised concerns by the group.
NetChoice applauded Congress for not including progressive proposals to change American antitrust law in the omnibus.
The bills that were passed in the spending package will have an impact on the tech industry.
The banning of TikTok on government devices may benefit rival platforms that fight for young consumers' attention. There is an exception for law enforcement, national security and research.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray, have voiced fear that TikTok's ownership structure could make U.S. user data vulnerable, since companies based in China may be required by law to hand over user information TikTok has assured the public that its U.S. user data is not based in China.
Through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., the company is trying to soothe national security fears.
Following the release of the package text, a TikTok spokesman said that they were disappointed that Congress had moved to ban TikTok on government devices. Any security concerns that have been raised at the federal and state levels will be addressed by the agreement under review. These plans have been developed under the supervision of our country's top national security agencies and we will continue to brief lawmakers on them.
The INFORM Consumers Act is part of the spending package. The bill requires online marketplaces like Amazon to collect and verify information from high-volume third-party sellers.
Amazon initially opposed the bill, writing that it was pushed by some big-box retailers and that it would punish small businesses that sell online, but later supported a version of the bill. The bill had been supported by the two online marketplaces.
Consumers deserve to know who they are buying from when they visit an online marketplace, and the bipartisan INFORM Act would be a big victory for them. The legislation has received the support of both parties as well as bricks and mortar stores and online marketplaces.
The bill will achieve the goal of protecting consumers from bad actors while avoiding overly broad disclosure requirements that would harm our sellers' privacy and hinder their ability to run their creative businesses, according to Jeffrey Zubricki.
There is a bill that helps raise money for the antitrust agencies that scrutinize mergers that didn't make it into the end-of-year legislation. Under the law, companies have to pay to file with the antitrust agencies if they want to pursue a large merger. The bill lowers the cost for smaller deals and allows the fees to be adjusted annually.
Over the past few years, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division have seen a large increase in merger filing without adequate budget increases.
The inclusion of the merger filing fee bill was praised by antitrust advocates.
Sarah Miller is the executive director of the anti-monopoly group the American Economic Liberties Project. The bill will strengthen antitrust law for the first time in four decades.
Big Tech, Big Ag, and Big pharma spent extraordinary sums in an effort to keep Congress from delivering on antitrust reform and undermine the ability of state and federal enforcers to uphold the law.
It is an important step to restructure merger fees after decades of the status quo so we can provide our antitrust enforcers with the resources they need to do their jobs.
She said that this was the start of the fight and not the end. I will protect consumers and strengthen competition.
The State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act was part of the package. The bill gives state AGs the authority to choose the district in which they bring their cases and prevent them from being consolidated in a different district.
Companies defending against antitrust violations won't be able to pick a more favorable location to fight the case under the legislation.
That is what happened when a group of state AGs brought an antitrust case against the company. Private antitrust complaints against the company were transferred from Texas to New York.
The legislation was supported by attorneys general from 52 states.
The RANSOMWARE Act requires the FTC to report on the number and types of foreign cyberattacks it receives.
The FTC must report to Congress trends in the number of complaints it sees from individuals, companies and governments of foreign adversaries. Information about these cases and their results must be shared.
Recommendations for new laws to strengthen resilience against these attacks can be shared by the FTC.
The package directs the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct research on the effects of media and technology on children and adolescents.
The legislation states that there could be impacts on cognitive, mental and physical health by technologies such as social media, artificial intelligence, video games or virtual reality. The law requires the director of the National Institute of Health to give a report to Congress within two years.
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Lawmakers grilled the executives of TikTok andYouTube.
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