With help from Steven Overly and Melissa Heikkilä
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— Looking 10 steps ahead: The FCC’s $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit program is widely seen as a win addressing the digital divide during the pandemic. But how can those equity efforts be expanded to serve a post-Covid world?
— On privacy, states at it again: A major settlement in a six-year-old case claiming Facebook violated Illinois privacy law with its facial tagging feature is likely to stir up talks in the new Congress about facial recognition and privacy legislation.
— EU, U.S. come together on AI: The U.S. appears to be meeting Europe halfway in its bid to create formal, transatlantic cooperation on the allies’ artificial intelligence strategies.
AND JUST LIKE THAT, IT’S MARCH. WELCOME BACK TO MORNING TECH! I’m your host, Alexandra Levine.
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ONE YEAR INTO COVID, A WIN FOR THE BROADBAND COMMUNITY — Major telecom players are cheering the FCC’s bipartisan vote to swiftly advance the $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which will help subsidize internet service for households affected by Covid. (The full text of the order was released on Friday.) Acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has stressed how the program will be key for those households to access virtual learning, telehealth services and job resources.
— Round of applause: AT&T praised the step to “help close the broadband gap,” while Comcast and Charter announced their intent to participate in the effort. Access Now said the plan will support Black and indigenous communities in particular. The Benton Institute called it “a lifeline” that will go far in connecting Americans in need to Covid vaccines. And trade groups including ACA Connects, USTelecom, the Internet & Television Association and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association also welcomed the action.
— What’s next: The program is expected to open to qualifying homes signed up with participating providers within the next 60 days, Rosenworcel said.
— And beyond that? Members of Congress have already been encouraging the FCC to find ways to expand these types of efforts beyond the end of the health crisis.
“While the EBBP will sunset after the end of the coronavirus pandemic, it presents a unique opportunity for the FCC to look at how to address the broadband affordability issue long-term and [start] to think now about the longevity of cost support well beyond this program,” Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) wrote in a letter to Rosenworcel.
“The ultimate end to the pandemic will not signify the end to the digital divide,” the senators wrote, “and the efforts that we put forth now toward encouraging digital equity must represent a durable, scalable model for future digital equity efforts.”
ON PRIVACY: A LOCAL LAWSUIT WITH NATIONAL RAMIFICATIONS — An enormous class-action settlement in a Facebook privacy lawsuit in Illinois could breathe new life into Washington’s debates over facial recognition technology and add urgency to the push for federal privacy legislation.
— The lawsuit: A federal judge approved a $650 million settlement on Friday in a case alleging that the social network used users’ biometric data — namely, images of their faces — without their consent to power its photo-tagging capabilities. As a result of the suit, filed in 2015 in Illinois, some 1.6 million Facebook users there are expected to receive hundreds of dollars each in the coming months.
— The landscape: Facial recognition has come under fire far beyond this Facebook case. Many government leaders across Congress and the FTC, AI researchers, and consumer and civil rights advocates have sounded the alarm over privacy concerns and biases in the software that disproportionately endanger minorities and communities of color.
In the absence of federal privacy legislation, biometric privacy laws in Illinois and other states are doing more to address the issue than Congress is. And despite some movement — including hearings and the introduction of facial recognition legislation — last Congress, some lawmakers say congressional action on facial recognition will remain a challenge so long as there is no foundational, federal privacy standard first.
TECH QUOTE OF THE DAY – “Local news is on life support in this country,” House antitrust chief Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) said Sunday on CNN, teasing a March 12 subcommittee hearing on legislative proposals (including his own) to bolster local journalism. “Two-thirds of Americans get their news through Facebook and Google. Those two platforms control digital advertising online. There are real challenges here, and we’re seeing local newspapers close regularly. Layoffs all throughout the industry. And a real decline in local journalism. We’ve got to do something about it. … I think you’ll see real reforms in this Congress.”
LOBBYING LATEST: FROM BYTES TO BITES — Former congresswoman and chief Google lobbyist Susan Molinari has been tapped to co-chair the American Italian Food Coalition, an alliance that represents 450 Italian companies and manufacturers seeking to sell their products in the U.S. Former Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) serves as the group’s other co-chair. Molinari led Google’s public policy shops across the Americas from 2012 to 2019, advocating on issues like data privacy, antitrust and election misinformation. A Republican, Molinari represented Staten Island, N.Y., in the House in the 1990s.
TRANSATLANTIC AI CHATTER GETS LOUDER — Late last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a bid to create a “transatlantic AI accord” with the U.S. — and it now seems like her call has been heard, my colleague Melissa Heikkilä reports from London. The U.S. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, chaired by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, will release its final report today, and an early draft urges the U.S. to bring “together like-minded allies and partners to build a digital coalition that ensures a democratic vision for AI.”
— More alliances incoming: The draft report calls for the creation of an “Atlantic-Pacific Security Technology Partnership” that will improve the use and interoperability of AI between U.S. allies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. The commission also wants to launch an “International Digital Democracy Initiative” that would align global efforts “to develop, promote, and fund the adoption of AI and associated technologies that comport with democratic values and ethical norms” around privacy and security.
— Meanwhile, across the pond: The European Parliament’s special committee on artificial intelligence is holding a hearing today on regulatory convergence on AI. Speakers include Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), who has focused on advancing a national strategy for artificial intelligence in the U.S., as well as representatives from the United Nations and World Economic Forum.
ICYMI: GLOBAL TAX DEAL ON THE HORIZON — G-20 finance ministers on Friday gave their “strong support” to reach a global digital tax deal at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development by July, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. has dropped its demand for a controversial “safe harbor” provision that would make the tax optional, according to European Commission tax director Benjamin Angel. French finance minister and chief cheerleader for a digital tax, Bruno Le Maire, cheered Yellen’s announcement. “This is a major step forward,” he said Friday on Twitter. “An international agreement on minimum business taxation and taxation on digital services is within reach.”
Grace Guliani, a former senior legislative counsel at the ACLU who worked previously in the DHS chief of staff’s office and was an investigative counsel for the House Oversight Committee, joined Twitter’s public policy team as the head of national security, democracy and civil rights public policy for the Americas. … Elizabeth Busby, former deputy national press secretary to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who worked previously at SKDKnickerbocker and AmeriCorps, joined Twitter’s policy communications team in Washington, focused on U.S. public policy, safety policy and elections.
Lia Nitake, a former economic development and public affairs consultant in Sacramento, was named TechNet’s deputy executive director for California and the Southwest. … Tony Lin, who worked previously at Hogan Lovells, has joined DLA Piper’s telecom group as part of the firm’s intellectual property and technology practice in Washington. … Dane Hughes, former senior adviser to the Defense secretary, is now director of strategic engagement at software company Research Innovations.
Massachusetts, a case study: “How one state managed to actually write rules on facial recognition,” via NYT.
WWYD: “To selfie or not to selfie? Why the joy of getting vaccinated is drawing backlash,” via WaPo.
Eyeballs watching emoji: “New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote a blog post for Facebook’s corporate website,” BuzzFeed News reports.
By the numbers: A new study commissioned by Netflix “found the streamer was outperforming traditional studios in onscreen and behind-the-scenes diversity,” Entertainment Weekly reports.
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TTYL.
