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☆ Meta ignored warnings on Instagram’s harm to teens, whistleblower says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Washington CNN —Meta’s top executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, ignored warnings for years about harms to teens on its platforms such as Instagram, a company whistleblower told a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday. Meanwhile, both parties have united behind blaming Meta for contributing to a nationwide mental health crisis. Bejar’s research “is basically a smoking gun,” Haugen told CNN in an interview Tuesday. “Every day countless people inside and outside of Meta are working on how to help keep young people safe online,” said Meta spokesman Andy Stone in a statement. He said everyday Americans understand “the harm being done” and compared it to harms from smoking.

Persons: Washington CNN —, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Arturo Bejar, Bejar, Zuckerberg, Bejar’s, ” Bejar, Frances Haugen, Instagram, ” Haugen, “, Sheryl Sandberg, ”, Andy Stone, Stone, Connecticut Democratic Sen, Richard Blumenthal ., Josh Hawley, Tennessee Republican Sen, Marsha Blackburn, Adam Mosseri, Sandberg, Chris Cox, Mosseri, ” Blackburn, Louisiana Republican Sen, John Kennedy, we’re, ” Meta, Blumenthal, Cox, Haugen, Hawley, ” Blumenthal, ” CNN’s Samantha Kelly Organizations: Washington CNN, Washington CNN — Meta’s, Facebook, Wall, Meta, CNN, Connecticut Democratic, Big Tech, Tennessee Republican, Louisiana Republican, Wall Street, “ Big Tech, Tobacco Locations: Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal . Missouri, Instagram

☆ Senate Judiciary advances journalism bargaining bill targeting Big Tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced legislation on Thursday that would give news organizations the power to jointly bargain against Meta, Google and other online platforms for a greater share of online advertising revenue. One member of the committee, California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, voted against the bill Thursday and vowed to block any future floor vote on the legislation until lawmakers make several changes. Padilla said the legislation doesn’t do enough to ensure that actual journalists in local newsrooms will benefit from the bargaining, as opposed to hedge funds and publication owners. “This bill is not about whether or not you like social media,” Kennedy said. “This bill is not about whether or not you like what is happening in American news media today.

Persons: Minnesota Democratic Sen, Amy Klobuchar, Louisiana Republican Sen, John Kennedy, Google didn’t, California Democratic Sen, Alex Padilla, Padilla, ” Padilla, Padilla’s, Democratic Sens, Jon Ossoff, Peter Welch, Cory Booker, Kennedy, Klobuchar, —, ” Klobuchar, ” Kennedy, ” Organizations: Washington CNN, Committee, Meta, Google, Minnesota Democratic, Louisiana Republican, California Democratic, Democratic Locations: Louisiana, Australia, California

☆ US senator introduces bill to create a federal agency to regulate AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —Days after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified in front of Congress and proposed creating a new federal agency to regulate artificial intelligence, a US senator has introduced a bill to do just that. On Thursday, Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet unveiled an updated version of legislation he introduced last year that would establish a Federal Digital Platform Commission. And for the most significant platforms — companies the bill calls “systemically important” — the bill would create requirements for algorithmic audits and public risk assessments of the harms their tools could cause. The debate over whether the US government should establish a separate federal agency to police AI tools may become a significant focus of those efforts following Altman’s testimony this week. Altman suggested in a Senate hearing on Tuesday that such an agency could restrict how AI is developed through licenses or credentialing for AI companies.

☆ How the CEO behind ChatGPT won over Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

It was a pivotal moment for the AI industry. He agreed that large-scale manipulation and deception using AI tools are among the technology’s biggest potential flaws. On Tuesday, they seemed ready — or even relieved — to be dealing with another area of the technology industry. The AI industry’s biggest players and aspirants include some of the same tech giants Congress has sharply criticized, including Google and Meta. Here too, Altman deftly seized an opportunity to curry favor with lawmakers by emphasizing distinctions between his industry and the social media industry.

☆ Republicans seek to sabotage year-end spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

An omnibus spending bill that would avert the closure of the federal government would be one of the last acts of unified Democratic political control of Washington. Democrats, meanwhile, understand that the government spending bill likely represents their last chance to enact Biden’s ambitious domestic plans until the next presidential election. If lawmakers cannot agree on a deal, they will face the possibility of either passing a short-term spending bill to carry the debate into the new Congress or a longer-term continuing resolution that would extend current spending levels. But in a sign of the consuming nature of the spending showdown, Republicans emerged from the meeting complaining that the two secretaries spent time lobbying for an omnibus spending bill over a continuing resolution. He said that Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had asked Blinken and Austin to explain why the new spending bill was so necessary.

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