The Big Story: UK moves forward with plan to regulate online harms. The United Kingdom announced this week that it plans to give British regulators the authority to fine social media companies and online platforms for any harmful content that might be found on their sites—the next step in the country’s plan to combat harmful Internet speech. The regulations would apply to any Internet platform that allows for the sharing of user-generated content in the country.
The new plan would empower the U.K.’s Office of Communications (Ofcom)—the country’s telecommunications watchdog—to levy a “duty of care” on social media platforms in order to “protect users from harmful and illegal terrorist and child abuse content.” U.K. Digital Minister Matt Warman said that Ofcom would have the “teeth” it needs to function as the country’s online harms regulator. The regulations would require companies to “explicitly state what content and behaviour is acceptable on their sites in clear and accessible terms and conditions and enforce these effectively, consistently and transparently.”
The U.K. government last year laid out a series of proposals for combatting online harms in a white paper that would require platforms to take “reasonable” steps to protect users from harmful content. Although the proposals remain controversial, the government recently published a partial response to some of the concerns about limiting freedom of expression. Draft legislation is still pending, however, with no set timeline. As we’ve previously described, creating new and conflicting legal regimes to combat online harms—particularly on the global level—could chill innovation and leave startups “with the largest compliance burden.” With the inherent difficulties involved with policing online content, it is startups—not the largest Internet platforms—that will have the most trouble combatting harmful online content.
Policy Roundup:
DOJ accuses Huawei of racketeering, stealing trade secrets. The Department of Justice charged Chinese telecoms firm Huawei and two of its U.S. subsidiaries with racketeering and staling trade secrets from six U.S. technology companies. The newly unsealed 16-count indictment claims that Huawei made a concerted effort to steal intellectual property from U.S. competitors, including “trade secret information and copyrighted works, such as source code and user manuals for Internet routers, antenna technology and robot testing technology.”
FTC reviewing past acquisitions of tech giants. The Federal Trade Commission announced that it is requiring information from five tech giants —Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft—about the smaller companies they’ve acquired over the past decade to determine whether the large firms “are making potentially anticompetitive acquisitions of nascent or potential competitors.”
House lawmakers renew push for driverless car legislation. Bipartisan members of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection touted progress on self-driving car legislation during a hearing this week after a previous legislative push died in the last Congress. Despite renewed efforts, newly released sections of the draft bill show that a number of policy issues still need to be addressed, including concerns about cybersecurity, forced arbitration, staffing for the U.S. Department of Transportation, and ways to educate consumers about the new technology.
California continues push against gig economy. A federal judge this week denied a request from Uber and Postmates to temporarily stop enforcement of California’s AB 5—the newly enacted law that changed the state’s rules regarding independent contractors—while their suit against the rule works its way through the courts. Engine joined an amicus brief with TechNet and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week warning about the unintended consequences of the state’s new rules. The California lawmaker behind AB 5 is also pushing for new legislation that would prevent food delivery startups from delivering from restaurants that have not signed up for their services, and would require that delivery services share consumer data with participating restaurants.
Unlocking 6 GHz band for unlicensed use. In a Morning Consult op-ed, Engine Policy Director Kate Tummarello discussed why unlicensed spectrum is “an invaluable asset for the thriving startup ecosystem in the United States,” and why it’s so critical for the FCC to quickly open up the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use.
Administration’s proposed budget would increase AI, quantum spending. The Trump administration’s proposed $4.8 trillion federal budget for the 2021 fiscal year would cut overall funding for federal research and development, while also doubling spending on artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. The proposal would increase annual spending on AI to more than two billion over the next two years, while also increasing funding for quantum computing to $860 million.
New rules increase CFIUS scrutiny of app investments. New regulations that went into effect yesterday extended the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ ability to block “non-controlling” foreign investments in U.S. tech companies and app developers.
Startup Roundup:
#StartupsEverywhere: Tega Cay, South Carolina. Located in the rapidly growing Charlotte metro region, BAM Concepts is working to evaluate consumer products, such as razors, and then use technology to improve their benefits for consumers. We recently spoke with Attila Madarasz—one of BAM Concept’s three founders and the firm’s managing director—to learn more about the startup’s mission, the Charlotte ecosystem, and the company’s goals moving forward.
Top 50 U.S. cities for startup success. Startup Genome and Inc. Magazine released their list of the top 50 metro areas for startup growth in the United States. The 2020 Surge Cities index found that Austin was the best city in which to launch a startup, followed by Salt Lake City and then Durham.
