Congress' 2023 Tech Hearings Ramp Up
As the 2023 Congress gets underway, members are likely to focus on numerous technology issues. Here's what to know.
As the 2023 Congress ramps up, it has started to hold a few technology-focused hearings. It’s too soon to draw major conclusions, but there are some indications of where Congress’ tech-focused hearings may concentrate this year — and what that means for oversight actions and legislation. Here’s what to know. Brought to you by Global Cyber Strategies, a Washington, DC-based research and advisory firm.
The One-Liner
While too soon to draw major conclusions, Congress has held hearings to date on children’s online safety, cryptocurrencies and digital assets, and online content moderation — and is likely to keep its 2021-2022 hearing focus on cybersecurity, privacy, and the online safety and well-being of children and teenagers.
Recent Technology Hearings
In the past several weeks, Congress has held a few tech-focused hearings, including:
“Crypto Crash: Why Financial System Safeguards are Needed for Digital Assets,” Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, February 14, 2023
“Protecting Our Children Online,” Senate Committee on the Judiciary, February 14, 2023
“Protecting Speech from Government Interference and Social Media Bias, Part 1: Twitter’s Role in Suppressing the Biden Laptop Story,” House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, February 8, 2023
Upcoming, tech-focused Congressional hearings include:
“Promoting US Innovation and Individual Liberty through a National Standard for Data Privacy,” House Committee on Energy and Commerce, March 1, 2023
TikTok CEO’s Testimony [exact hearing title TBD], House Committee on Energy and Commerce, March 23, 2023
We previously compiled and manually coded data on every single one of Congress’ more than 3,000 hearings in 2021 and 2022 (the 117th Congress). The top focus area, within technology-focused hearings, was cybersecurity; approximately 26% of all Congressional tech hearings in 2021 and 2022 centered around this issue.
Looking Ahead to This Year
Several takeaways stand out:
It is far too soon to tell how, and how much, Congress will focus on technology in 2023. Thus far, topics covered include children’s online safety, cryptocurrencies and digital assets, and online content moderation. The comprehensive data we compiled and coded on 3,000+ hearings in 2021 and 2022 is one potential reference point for identifying past trends, including by chamber and committee.
Nonetheless, children’s online safety will likely be a key focus area for Congress this year. It is obviously an important topic. It is also a topic that has historically generated bipartisan interest — although, of course, legislative proposals on the issue set range from thoughtful to poorly written, and it remains to be seen how some politicians’ attacks on marginalized communities will inform their “children’s online safety” proposals in the coming months.
President Biden’s State of the Union Address on February 7, 2023 said that “we must finally hold social media companies accountable for experimenting they’re doing — running [on] children for profit. And it’s time to pass bipartisan legislation to stop Big Tech from collecting personal data on kids and teenagers online, ban targeted advertising to children, and impose stricter limits on the personal data that companies collect on all of us.” The speech’s focus (within tech) on the online safety and general well-being of children and teenagers is another reason to believe the topic will get a significant focus from Congress in hearings, oversight actions, and legislative proposals. While not true of every office in every case, it has been my experience engaging with numerous Congressional offices on a range of technology issues that some like to take very clear direction from the State of the Union Address, particularly from a president of their own party.
Cybersecurity and privacy are also likely to remain strong focus areas. In part, this will be through a US-China lens — as most foreign policy and national security discussions in Washington are nowadays — and the upcoming hearing with TikTok’s CEO on March 23 is a prime example. But in and of itself, data privacy remains a continually debated and evolving topic in Congress, too. There is no indication that will significantly change in 2023.
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