As the House Energy and Commerce Committee prepares for a hearing on Wednesday featuring Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai published a blog post questioning whether it’s time to require more transparency from edge providers like Facebook and Google.
“The public deserves to know more about how these companies operate. And we need to seriously think about whether the time has come for these companies to abide by new transparency obligations,” Pai writes. “After all, just as is the case with respect to broadband providers, consumers need accurate information in order to make educated choices about whether and how to use these tech giants’ platforms.”
Pai’s post points to issues of privacy, like the recent Associated Press investigation that found Google services stores users’ location data on Android and iPhone devices even if privacy settings are set to turn that option off.
“Most consumers have no idea how this data is being used. Do we need greater transparency when it comes to these companies’ privacy practices? And should consumers have greater control over the use of their information?” Pai asks.
He also raises concerns with tech giants acting as gatekeepers of online content and “routinely block or discriminate against content they don’t like,” citing the restriction on Twitter of a video announcement from Tennessee Congressman Marsha Blackburn about her run for the U.S. Senate.
“Are these tech giants running impartial digital platforms over which they don’t exercise editorial judgment when it comes to content?” Pai writes. “Or do they in fact decide what speech is allowed and what is not and discriminate based on ideology and/or political affiliation?”
Pai stresses that while these questions lend themselves to the topic of regulatory oversight, he does not think “strict, utility-style regulation” is the answer. Pai has been a strong advocate of light-touch regulation, most notably in December voting to overturn net-neutrality rules put in place in 2015 that prevented broadband providers from blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization.
“The government — in particular, the Federal Communications Commission, which I have the privilege of leading—shouldn’t regulate these entities like a water company. Among other things, because they are private entities, they do not violate the First Amendment when they make certain business judgments about content on their sites,” Pai writes.
Still, the FCC Chairman says it’s critical to have “a serious conversation” about the issues, given the ever increasing influence these providers have over the economy and society.
“And we need to seriously think about whether the time has come for these companies to abide by new transparency obligations,” Pai says in his blog post. “After all, just as is the case with respect to broadband providers, consumers need accurate information in order to make educated choices about whether and how to use these tech giants’ platforms.”
