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Schumer previews plan to tackle AI in elections, privacy [1]

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Date: 2023-11-09

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Happy Thursday! So long and farewell, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Xiao Qi. You will be missed . Send news tips and panda sightings to: [email protected] . Below: Mark Zuckerberg allegedly ignored calls to invest in children’s safety, and Europe probes platforms on access to harmful content. First: Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Schumer previews plan to tackle AI in elections, privacy Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) offered another glimpse Wednesday into his plans for regulating artificial intelligence, floating a new “duty of care” concept for the tools and calling for a key standards-setting body to play a major role.

Speaking to reporters after his latest private AI forum, this time focused on privacy and liability, Schumer said the discussion illuminated “the need for a clear duty of care.”

“Duty of care has worked in other areas, and it seems to fit decently well here in the AI model,” Schumer said, speaking alongside a bipartisan group of senators.

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The legal concept, which typically requires that companies take steps to mitigate potential harms or risks, has at times deeply divided Washington’s tech debates.

Democrats and Republicans have largely split on including such language in a data privacy bill, with liberal lawmakers backing the push and conservatives resisting it. But lawmakers of both parties have supported including it in proposals to protect children on digital platforms .

It’s not immediately clear how lawmakers may apply the framework to AI, but its consideration marks a notable new twist in Schumer’s talks and the chamber’s efforts.

“There seemed to be a general consensus that duty of care was a critical part of the [way] forward in our discussions, but I'm not going to get into it any farther,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who has allied with Schumer in his AI push, said after the session.

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On the prospect of a long-sought federal privacy law, Schumer said the chamber is “endeavoring to get that done” but acknowledged that “it hasn't been easy.”

“There are lots of disagreements, but it's important to try and get that done,” he said.

Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), whose committee has jurisdiction over the issue, said she “would like to get some kids’ privacy bills done, out of the door, this year, and then turn to the larger privacy bill.” The surge of attention on AI could bolster the push, she added.

“AI really creates a sharper urgency to get a good strong privacy bill,” she told me Wednesday.

After a session earlier Wednesday on AI use in elections, Schumer suggested that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) — a non-regulatory agency housed within the Commerce Department — could play a key role in overseeing the tools.

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“There was broad consensus that NIST is an appropriate place to help us with standards,” Schumer said after a session called “Democracy & Elections.”

Schumer said there was “a lot of favorability” for a bipartisan proposal to ban the use of AI to generate deceptive political ads , while cautioning that there wasn’t “universal” consensus.

The measure , led by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), marks one of the most aggressive bipartisan efforts to tackle misleading AI-generated campaign ads.

“We have put the bill out there and now we're getting more and more supporters and then the next step is to bring the bill to the committee,” Klobuchar, who attended the forum, told reporters.

Schumer and his allies, who have suggested the chamber may move legislation on AI in elections before a broader package, reiterated the need for swift action ahead of 2024.

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“This needs to be fully embedded in the fairly near term,” Sen. Todd C. Young (R-Ind.) said.

Our top tabs

Zuckerberg ‘ignored’ calls to fund children’s safety, unredacted court filing says

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg allegedly ignored calls from his top executives asking him to adopt bolder actions and direct more funding toward keeping users safe on its platforms, especially children, your host and Naomi Nix report , citing a newly unredacted legal complaint.

Meta global affairs head Nick Clegg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri in 2021 urged fellow executives to devote more resources toward online safety to clamp down on bullying, harassment and suicide ideation, according to an updated complaint filed this week by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell (D).

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“Campbell is one of 42 attorneys general who last month filed lawsuits accusing Meta of endangering children by building addictive features into its popular social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook,” the report adds. Clegg pushed for “additional investment to strengthen our position” in online safety, but Zuckerberg “ignored Clegg’s request for months,” the filing alleges.

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Meta has more than 30 tools and resources “to help keep teens safe and away from potentially harmful content or unwanted contact,” Meta spokeswoman Liza Crenshaw told Naomi and your host in a statement.

India tamed Twitter, setting global standards for online censorship

American tech companies, notably Twitter, have heavily fallen in line with the Indian government’s censorship demands, fearing for their profits and their employees’ security, our colleagues Karishma Mehrotra and Joseph Menn report .

“In the past two years, the Indian government has dramatically tightened its grip on American social media companies. Silicon Valley firms that were at times defiant are now far more accepting of Indian government dictates to censor material, in particular criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party,” our colleagues write.

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The shift has been most notable at X, formerly known as Twitter, a platform once considered to be a flag-bearer for resisting government pressure around the world. “The [stuff] that they’re doing in India should be freaking everybody out,” a former U.S. Twitter policy staffer said.

For instance, Twitter and YouTube in January complied with a takedown request to remove links in India to a BBC documentary that faulted Modi for the spread of riots in 2002 when he sat as chief minister of the Gujarat state, leaving over 1,000 dead, mostly Muslims.

E.U. to probe TikTok, YouTube on measures for protecting children

European Union industry chief Thierry Breton will ask TikTok and YouTube to provide details on steps the platforms are taking to prevent children from accessing illegal and harmful content in a way that aligns with new E.U. digital rules, Reuters’s Foo Yun Chee reports , citing a person familiar with the matter.

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The Digital Services Act directs qualifying entities to run annual risk assessments about illegal content on their sites, submit to independent audits and provide researchers with data about how their platforms operate. Content that targets minors is also heavily considered in the rules.

“The move by Breton comes three days after he told TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew to spare no effort to counter disinformation on its platform, owned by China's ByteDance,” Yun Chee notes. The information requests are expected to be sent Thursday, the report adds.

Hill happenings

Inside the industry

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Competition watch

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Daybook

The Brookings Institution holds a discussion on what the 2023 elections mean for next year’s presidential race at 2 p.m.

The Chamber of Progress hosts a webinar on recent social media addiction lawsuits at 3 p.m.

Before you log off

A Senate staffer waiting for their boss at votes: “sometimes I feel like watching C-SPAN is like watching your dog at day care. Are they having fun? Are they making friends?” — Allison Pecorin (@AllisonMPecorin) November 8, 2023

That’s all for today — thank you so much for joining us! Make sure to tell others to subscribe to The Technology 202 here. Get in touch with tips, feedback or greetings on X or email.

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[1] Url: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/09/schumer-previews-plan-tackle-ai-elections-privacy/

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