Florida plans to “immediately appeal” to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday's decision by the U.S. District Court in Tallahassee to freeze Florida’s law regulating social media, said a spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) Thursday. Hours before the law was to take effect, Judge Robert Hinkle granted NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association’s motion for preliminary injunction (see our bulletin). Plaintiffs and supporting amici told us they’re confident the 11th Circuit won’t overturn the lower court.
The FTC voted along party lines Thursday to “streamline” agency rulemaking procedures and remove hurdles to issuing compulsory demands in investigations (see 2106300001). The decisions remove policy constraints that hindered enforcement, making commissioners more nimble when investigating companies, Chair Lina Khan said during Thursday’s public meeting. Republicans said they weren’t given enough time to study the proposals that will reduce transparency, public input and commission oversight.
Some House Democrats are beginning to echo their Senate colleagues’ concerns about the continued lack of permanent leadership at the FCC and NTIA (see 2106160056). House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., told us he plans to delay the subpanel’s customary FCC oversight hearings until President Joe Biden names a permanent commission chair and fills a vacant seat that would give Democrats a 3-2 majority. Qualms about Biden’s failure to name a permanent NTIA administrator also featured during a Wednesday House Communications hearing on nine bills largely aimed at increasing the role that agency and the FCC play in communications security. Subcommittee members from both parties appeared interested in pursuing those measures.
The FCC expects “a lot of interest” in the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund, senior officials told reporters Monday before the first application filing window opens Tuesday (see 2105260048). Officials said the program is intended to complement the existing emergency broadband benefit program.
Industry groups and consumer advocates will watch closely Thursday when the FTC expects to vote on streamlining internal Magnuson-Moss rulemaking procedures. An affirmative vote could set the stage for an agency rulemaking on privacy, a proposal for which Democrat and Republican commissioners have shown interest (see 2102120046).
A federal judge chided a Florida counsel at virtual oral argument Monday on the state’s law regulating social media regulation, asking “if you've ever dealt with a statute that was more poorly drafted.” U.S. District Court in Tallahassee Judge Robert Hinkle had a laundry list of questions for the state counsel. He plans to rule Wednesday on a preliminary injunction against the law that would otherwise take effect Thursday (see 2106250028).
Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is “actively working” to introduce at least one, possibly more, of the six antitrust bills the House Judiciary Committee passed last week (see 2106240071). Klobuchar’s Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act (S-228) passed Wednesday with the House package of antitrust legislation (see 2106240071). “It just shows the momentum” for updating U.S. antitrust law, she told us Thursday. Klobuchar wouldn’t specify which House bill she plans to introduce. “I think there will be others as well,” she said.
Telecom-focused lawmakers want to see more information on how a bipartisan infrastructure proposal President Joe Biden backed Thursday structures broadband spending. Some Democrats also cited a likely follow-up bill to address, via budget reconciliation, infrastructure spending not in this compromise as a potential vehicle for more connectivity money. The Biden-backed deal includes $65 billion for broadband, the same the administration previously offered during unsuccessful talks with Senate Republicans (see 2105270072).
The House Judiciary Committee passed bills aimed at Big Tech competition. Members from both parties in interviews defended the committee’s decision to move forward with Wednesday’s markup, despite industry's calls for delay (see 2106220061). The committee was deliberating four other pieces of legislation at our deadline.
Bipartisan legislation scheduled for House Judiciary Committee markup Wednesday would upend centuries of U.S. antitrust law and harm consumers, industry groups said this week. Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Ken Buck, R-Colo., urged Republicans to come together and hold Big Tech accountable. Senate Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, accused House progressives of taking advantage of conservatives’ “justified anger” against Silicon Valley.