Big Tech

U.S. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wrote to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging the agency to investigate new evidence that the popular video social media platform TikTok has violated the privacy of its young users and failed to abide by the terms of a 2019 settlement with the FTC.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey questioning why Twitter should continue to receive special immunity from the federal government after choosing to editorialize on President Trump’s tweets. Twitter currently receives special immunity under the law in what’s known as Section 230, which states that companies that merely distribute user content should not be treated like a publisher, such as the New York Times or the Washington Post. But, with Twitter’s...

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Google CEO Sunday Pichai calling on the company to provide an explanation for reports that YouTube is censoring comments critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In his letter, Senator Hawley describes a disturbing pattern of Google’s censoring criticism to curry favor with the CCP, calling for a specific account of when the company became aware of this “error” and what steps they have taken to correct it.

Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) today wrote to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging it to use its authority under the FTC Act to launch an investigation into children’s data practices in the educational technology and digital advertising sectors. The Senators make their request following the Commission’s announcement that it will begin an ahead-of-schedule...

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) joined Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in introducing the Countering Chinese Attempts at Snooping Act (CCAS) to prohibit U.S. federal employees from conducting official business on platforms run by Tencent, Huawei, ZTE, and other companies the State Department determines cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In light of the United Nations’ (UN) recent consideration of a partnership with Tencent, the CCAS Act also ensures U.S. taxpayer dollars are not used...

Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr requesting the Department of Justice (DOJ) open a criminal antitrust investigation of Amazon. Recent reporting has revealed that Amazon uses its position as an online platform to stifle competition by collecting detailed data on merchandise in order to create rival products under its own brand. "Abusing one’s position as a marketplace platform to create copycat products always is bad, but it is especially...

"If you seek to assure the public, make your stake in this project personal. Make a commitment that you and other executives will be personally liable if you stop protecting privacy, such as by granting advertising companies access to the interface once the pandemic is over. The public statements you make now can be enforced under federal and state consumer protection laws. Do not hide behind a corporate shield like so many privacy offenders have before. Stake your personal finances on the...

"TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that includes Chinese Communist Party members on its board, and it is required by law to share user data with Beijing. The company even admitted it collects user data while their app is running in the background – including the messages people send, pictures they share, their keystrokes and location data, you name it. As many of our federal agencies have already recognized, TikTok is a major security risk to the United States, and it has no place on...

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure that its antitrust investigation into Google includes the company’s search operations. In the letter, the Senators point to the European Union fining Google $2.7 billion for manipulating search results as well as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finding evidence that Google engaged in similar search manipulation as early as 2012.

In today’s "Dangerous Partners: Big Tech & Beijing" hearing, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, announced he would introduce legislation to ban all federal employees from the use of TikTok on government devices. Senator Hawley said, "TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that includes Chinese Communist Party members in leadership, and it is requires by Chinese law to share user data with Beijing. TikTok has admitted that it...