U.S. voters may be hard-pressed to achieve consensus on much these days, but when it comes to regulating technology, they seem to share some common ground.
There is, for instance, fairly broad support for stronger regulation. “Overall, 44% of Americans think major technology companies should be regulated more than they are now, down from 56% in April 2021,” the Pew Research Center said earlier this year. Still, as Pew noted, a plurality of U.S. adults are in agreement on the matter.
Given a certain degree of shared public sentiment, the impact of Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections on technology could be relatively narrow, compared with other, more partisan issues. Nonetheless, when all results are in, election results may shape technology policy and regulation in some important respects.
Cybersecurity. Even if neither chamber of Congress were to flip, there would still be bipartisanship in cybersecurity, said Adam Isles, head of the cybersecurity practice at The Chertoff Group. Republicans are currently favored to win a narrow House majority. Control of the Senate remains up for grabs, with the contest in Georgia headed to a December runoff election for the second time in two years.
If Republicans take control of either chamber, there could be more pressure when it comes to funding government technology modernization initiatives that have a bearing on cybersecurity, Mr. Isles said. “You have to focus on the appropriations committee and what happens there,” he said.
Social media regulation. Depending upon the election's outcome and who ends up in leadership roles, the next Congress could increase emphasis on social media regulation and changes to the shield law known as Section 230. The law generally protects internet platforms from being sued for harmful content posted by third parties on their sites. The Supreme Court agreed to hear a lawsuit against Google in which the plaintiffs contend Section 230 shouldn’t protect platforms that steer people to harmful content, such as terrorist videos, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Broad consensus on privacy bill. The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 53-2 in July to approve the American Data Privacy and Protection Act. The legislation would create new limits on how businesses, especially large technology companies, can collect and use consumers’ data, the Journal reported.
They are looking beyond the electoral horizon. There are some matters of tech policy that won’t be addressed in any single election, because they are long-term issues, according to Michael Burns, partner with private equity and venture-capital investor Murray Hill Group. U.S. competitiveness in strategically important technologies, where it faces notable pressure from China, is one such matter.
The Biden administration is taking aggressive action that includes cutting off supplies of advanced semiconductors and machines used to make them, according to Mr. Burns. “The latter is very important,” he said.
It is also the administration’s position that third parties that buy chip-making machines from the U.S. can’t sell certain chips made with those machines to China, Mr. Burns said, adding that primarily includes chips involved in supercomputing and the types of processors used in artificial intelligence.
“It’s fair to say that this is a bipartisan issue now, with both parties arriving at the same stance through their respective deliberation processes, and shows that Washington can align on serious threats,” Mr. Burns said. “The next challenge is aligning industrial policy with outcomes measured in 5 to 10 or even 15-year horizons. This is hard in a system where the next election cycle is considered long-term.”
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