News: We have scoops on two important fronts today: kids safety legislation and GAIN AI.
Scoop No. 1: The House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to unveil its long-awaited proposal to protect kids and teens online ahead of a hearing on Dec. 2.
The 19 bills will include measures on social media design, video games, raising the minimum age to join social media, app store regulation and chatbots.
The lynchpin — and lightning rod — of the package is the Kids Online Safety Act. That bill requires social media platforms to put in place certain safety features by default for minors.
KOSA has been a long-term goal of parents’ groups and lawmakers in both parties. Many, however, say they’ll only support a version that also imposes legal responsibilities on the platforms to address certain harms. A bill that includes “duty of care” is currently filibuster-proof in the Senate.
The House Energy and Commerce GOP proposal replaces that approach with one requiring companies to implement procedures to mitigate harm to young users from things like violence, scams, obscenity, gambling, drugs and alcohol.
Panel leaders say the Senate language too closely resembles policies that courts have struck down as unconstitutional. They are depicting their version of KOSA as better for kids because it will survive judicial scrutiny, and highlighting the full spectrum of bills under consideration.
Privacy and chatbots. Another major pillar of the E&C package would extend current privacy rules for kids online to teens.
The measure has previously been introduced, but the latest version reins in popular platforms that wilfully ignore evidence of kids who use the services.
The hearing will also include a measure to stop kids and teens under age 16 from creating social media accounts, plus a national age verification for viewing sexually explicit websites. Another bill would mandate that chatbots regularly tell minors they’re not talking to humans or getting professional advice.
In addition, the members of the committee will consider forcing Apple and Google to verify smartphone users’ ages and will look at a separate measure to give parents a say over their children’s app downloads.
Another bill would give parents a way to limit their kids’ communications with other players on social gaming.
Scoop No. 2: House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) has proposed changes to the GAIN AI Act as part of negotiations to include it in the National Defense Authorization Act. House GOP leadership opposed inserting the original language in the defense bill.
Under Mast’s version, Congress would have 30 days to block an export license for artificial intelligence chips going to China, Russia, North Korea or Iran. The clock would start with a Commerce Department notification of its plan to issue a license and certification that the exports won’t hurt the domestic chips supply.
We’re told Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), the GAIN AI Act’s sponsor, is supportive of Mast’s changes. There are strong similarities between the two bills. The original approach would have given U.S. customers right-of-first-refusal over AI chips going to adversarial countries.
“Chairman Mast believes Congressional oversight over selling advanced chips to China is crucial,” HFAC Communications Director Haris Alic said.
