Authority to Regulate Political Speech Should Remain Limited
Plus our first podcast of 2023
RSVP Today! On January 24, Bilal will host a panel webinar on how the FTC’s merger guidelines address potential competition; the Commission recently announced it was open to revisiting this topic in its Vertical and Horizontal Merger Guidelines.
Free Speech: Ari’s comments to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) explained why the Commission’s proposal to modernize its rules about online speech risks chilling citizen participation.
FCC: In S&P Global, Berin addressed the long-delayed nomination of Gigi Sohn to the Federal Communications Commission. The Fraternal Order of Police opposes her nomination for the worst possible reason: “Sohn supports strong encryption as the only sure way to protect digital communications from malicious actors and repressive governments.”
FTC: In Global Competition Review (paywall), Berin termed the FTC’s proposed ban on non-compete clauses “a waste of time.” He predicted that a “spiral of challenges” would lead to the proposal getting blocked before it went into effect. The FTC simply doesn’t have the authority to write rules governing unfair methods of competition, as Berin and Corbin have explained previously.
Child Protection: On the latest Tech Policy Podcast, Reason editor Elizabeth Nolan Brown discussed five recent studies showing that screen time spent on television, smartphones, social media, and video games doesn’t seem to be harming children.
Section 230: As Berin noted in a Twitter thread, incoming House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers understands that what her fellow Republicans have been saying for years about Section 230 is nonsense: far from requiring “neutrality,” the law was intended to protect platforms that moderate content. She’s compared such notions to the old Fairness Doctrine, yet now she’s also leading the charge for “Big Tech Accountability.”
Events: On January 26, Bilal will be speaking at the 2nd Annual Mercatus Antitrust Forum to discuss the state of antitrust enforcement policy, here and abroad. Register today!
The FEC would like a word with him.