What the Biden government means for the future of Silicon Valley

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Among them is what to do with a hugely powerful social media industry that continues to spread largely disinformation and hatred despite the platforms’ efforts to combat it; how to ensure that all Americans have affordable high-speed Internet access during a global pandemic; and responding to a suspected Russian breach of US computer networks described as the worst government data breach in years. It is also unclear whether the government’s approach to China-related companies, including TikTok, whose business deal with Oracle and Walmart has still not been approved, can change.

Here are the big technical problems that policy experts say America’s new administration is likely to face.

Section 230

Policy experts say technology companies in Washington are still on the hook, even with Trump’s departure – the industry’s main antagonist for the past four years. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than with Section 230, the liability shield that largely protects technology companies from lawsuits over their content moderation decisions.

However, Democrats and Republicans disagree on what the problem is.
GOP lawmakers have thrown in unfounded claims of unconstitutional censorship by tech platforms (the constitution doesn’t require private companies to make user talk). At the same time, Democrats, including Biden, say technology companies have not done enough to fight misinformation and should be held accountable. One of Biden’s top technical advisers, Bruce Reed, said in December that it has “been a long time to hold social media companies accountable for what is published on their platforms.”

For their part, companies, including Google and Facebook, have said they have hired thousands of human content moderators and ramped up artificial intelligence-based content filters.

Now that Democrats have a small margin in Congress, policy experts expect the talk about Section 230 to stray from Republican-driven legislation targeting alleged censorship. That’s especially true now after the Capitol riots earlier this month, which were facilitated by online misinformation about the 2020 election results, said Carl Szabo, general counsel at NetChoice, a tech trading group.

“I believe Democrats will be much, much more aggressive in pushing for Section 230 reforms to enforce a tougher degree of content,” he said.

Antitrust

The threats to big tech companies don’t stop there. Major platforms such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google were heavily criticized for their dominance last year, with a House Democratic-led report finding that the companies have “monopoly power.” Facebook and Google are fighting multiple lawsuits from federal and state officials, and Apple and Amazon have been hit in private antitrust cases. All those suits are expected to continue.

With Democrats in control of the House and nominally in the Senate, that provides an opening for the party to push for some of the more aggressive changes to the competition law envisaged in the House’s antitrust report. While Republicans had expressed support for some proposals, such as giving more resources to the Federal Trade Commission, they objected to others, such as a bill that could prevent tech companies from owning as well as competing on a digital platform, such as Amazon does with its e-commerce site.

“If Congress turns, you could end up with something new [regulatory] plan for the major digital marketplaces, ”Tim Wu, a law professor at Columbia University, predicted in October.

Net neutrality

One of the first actions by the Trump Federal Communications Commission in 2017 was to repeal the US government’s net neutrality rules, which had banned ISPs from blocking, slowing down, or selectively speeding up websites and apps. The move met widespread opposition from tech companies, internet activists and consumer groups, while telecom providers welcomed the deregulation.

Now, with control over Congress and the White House, Democrats have a chance to reinstate those rules – either by reenacting them at the FCC or passing legislation to enshrine the rules in law.

That could end what had become a ping pong match in Washington, with different FCCs setting different rules every time the Oval Office changed hands.

“We could find a permanent net neutrality solution,” said Chip Pickering, a former US congressman from Mississippi who now heads INCOMPAS, a telecom trading group. Pickering said a likely path would be for Congress to impose net neutrality obligations on providers, including Comcast, Verizon and others, without explicitly regulating them, as the FCC does with legacy telephone services, a major flaw in past debates.

Broadband access

Because the pandemic has prompted many Americans to work and attend school remotely, it is emphasized that rural and low-income Americans do not have the same access to super-fast Internet as those with more resources. Closing that digital divide has historically been a rallying cry for Republicans and Democrats alike – making broadband investment a potentially easy, two-pronged achievement, policy experts say.

Expect broadband funding to become part of the infrastructure discussions on Capitol Hill, following Biden’s campaign promise to extend superfast connectivity to “every American.” The FCC will likely expand existing federal connectivity grant programs, according to the Brookings Institute. And industry leaders have called for streamlining the rollout of 5G wireless service.

Cybersecurity

The devastating breach into the US government and corporate networks by suspected Russian hackers will pose a huge challenge to the Biden administration as investigators continue to assess the damage.

It is up to Biden to determine how the US will respond and there are numerous tools at his disposal to do so, said Keith Alexander, retired general and former director of the National Security Agency. But any response would need to be carefully calibrated to avoid escalation, he said.

“You can respond by suing individuals and by taking diplomatic and economic measures, which they should do,” Alexander told CNN. “But any cyber response in physical space would likely turn into a bigger attack on us, and we’re not prepared to defend against it.”

White House press officer Jen Psaki spoke to reporters on Wednesday and declined to say what the government will do.

“We reserve the right to respond to any cyberattack at a time of our choosing and in any manner,” she said.

Immigration

With the Biden government’s executive actions last week, Silicon Valley seems hopeful for a more welcoming US immigration policy – one that supports the industry’s use of immigrant talent.

Companies such as Apple, Airbnb and IBM were quick to cheer on Biden’s reversal of Trump’s travel ban and his efforts to maintain the program known as DACA, or delayed action for the arrivals of children. That program, which Trump had wanted to restrict, protects undocumented immigrants from deportation who arrived in the United States as children.
Tim Cook, Apple CEO said last week he was “inspired” by Biden’s movements. In a blog post, Airbnb said it was celebrating executive actions to undo restrictions that it said were “contrary to Airbnb’s mission and values.” And IBM said those who benefit from the DACA program “make essential contributions to our communities and economy.”

“We look forward to a permanent, two-pronged solution in the future,” said the tech giant.

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