Lawmakers and diversity groups disagreed with industry trade groups about a petition for the FCC to require a vast swath of media companies -- including streaming services -- to report diversity data to the FCC. The schism surfaced in comments filed by Friday’s deadline in docket 22-209. “The media and entertainment industry is notorious for excluding people from historically underserved backgrounds,” said a letter of support from 20 Democratic House and Senate lawmakers, including Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J., and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas.

The Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports are causing “a tremendous amount of pain and anguish” for consumer tech companies, and “we prefer to see the tariffs go away,” Ed Brzytwa, CTA vice president-international trade, told an International Trade Commission virtual hearing Friday. The $32 billion that CTA estimates the consumer tech industry paid Customs and Border Protection in Chinese tariffs from their 2018 inception through the end of 2021 “is nothing to sniff at,” he said.

The health data privacy debate after the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade is focusing on social media platforms. Nearly 20 Republican state attorneys general asked Google Friday not to comply with Democrats’ request to “skew” search results and bury information on crisis pregnancy centers (see 2206290058). The Dobbs v. Jackson decision renewed questions about whether police should be able to access health data when prosecuting or blocking access to reproductive health services.

The NFL launched a subscription streaming service Monday geared largely to mobile devices. The $4.99 NFL+ service ($39 per year) includes access to live out-of-market preseason games, live local and prime-time regular season and postseason games (phone and tablet only), audio feeds for live local and national games, NFL Network shows on-demand and NFL Films archives.

Verizon took a hit on Wall Street Friday, much as AT&T did the previous day (see 2207210059), after Verizon trimmed its financial forecast for the year and reported lower than expected phone adds. Verizon shares were down 6.74%, to close at $44.45 Friday.

Any chance the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods would stimulate U.S. importers to shift their supply chains to alternative countries of origin were obliterated when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, Jonathan Gold, National Retail Federation vice president-supply chain and customs policy, told the International Trade Commission in a virtual hearing Thursday.

The Senate Commerce Committee appears to have the bipartisan support needed to advance two pieces of children’s privacy legislation at markup Wednesday (see 2207140051), Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and bill sponsors told us Thursday.

The House Commerce Committee voted 53-2 Wednesday to advance bipartisan, bicameral privacy legislation to the floor (see 2207190040). Some California Democrats criticized the strength of the bill, saying they may not support the measure on the floor. Some questioned whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will bring the legislation up.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and other lawmakers emphasized the importance of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's role in implementing pending “Chips+” U.S. semiconductor manufacturing incentives and a U.S. competitiveness package, during a Wednesday confirmation hearing for OSTP director nominee Arati Prabhakar. The substitute measure that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., filed Tuesday as an amendment to shell bill HR-4346, would supplant conference committee negotiations to marry elements of the dueling America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act (HR-4521) and U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260).

Streaming services have opened the door to more engaging and immersive experiences, said Parks Associates contributing analyst Eric Sorensen on a Thursday webinar. He cited opportunities in sports wagering, interactive shopping, co-viewing, dynamic and personalized ads and direct-to-consumer (D2C) video services from influencers and creators to create a more immersive experience for their fans.