Tech giants face legal test

From: POLITICO California Playbook - Wednesday Feb 22,2023 02:12 pm

Feb 22, 2023

By Jeremy B. White, Lara Korte, Ramon Castanos and Matthew Brown

THE BUZZ: Online activity is facing a decisive legal moment as courts and lawmakers try to balance freedom of speech with real-world harm.

Federal judges on both coasts are grappling with versions of the same fundamental question: What can, or should, the government do to protect people from content that endangers or radicalizes? The question resonates deeply in California, home to leading technology platforms and some of the nation’s most stringent digital restrictions. For now.

In Washington, a landmark Supreme Court case seeks to pierce the legal shield protecting tech companies’ content curation. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom is vowing to “vigorously" rebuff an industry challenge to a law compelling platforms to design their products with protection for kids in mind. Opponents filed on Friday for an injunction to block the law.

Technology company representatives have cast both matters in dire terms: Undermining search and socials’ immunity around how it polices content, Google’s attorney told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, would reduce the internet to dystopia and fluff: “The Truman Show versus a horror show.” California’s contested law, NetChoice’s filing contends, amounts to “the most extensive attempt by any state to censor speech since the birth of the internet.”

The distinct cases share a common thread. Both California’s new kid-focused law and the federal lawsuit manifest fears that algorithms and recommendation formulae are prizing views over safety. The federal challenge was brought by the grieving parents of a Californian terrorism victim, who argue their son’s killer was steered to venomous content. Lawmakers championing AB 2273 warned of a worsening youth mental health crisis.

The Supremes sounded disinclined to dismantle the current system, POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Rebecca Kern report. The California law is in an earlier phase of its legal odyssey, but the challenge demonstrates the forces arrayed in opposition to Sacramento’s efforts to get tougher last year’s tentpole measure to hold companies liable stalled in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

But legislators aren’t backing off. A bill this year would penalize social media companies that knowingly design products that addict kids. It’s no surprise a state Legislature is forging ahead. As POLITICO’s Alfred Ng writes, statehouses have become the frontier for digital privacy bills as federal momentum withered. Naturally, California leads there too.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Wednesday morning. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s windfall oil profits penalty is getting its first legislative hearing today. But we’re still not getting actual movement: The Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications hearing is informational only, so we’ll have to gauge the measure’s viability from the comments rather than from votes.

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up at jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “For those who say my time has passed: Well, when does making change go out of style? I don’t quit. I don’t give up. Come on. That’s not in my DNA.” Rep. Barbara Lee, 76, announces her Senate run.

BONUS QOTD: “I told him it’s a free country. He can run if he wants. But I plan to run, and I don’t usually run to lose.” Rep. Zoe Lofgren on former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo thinking about challenging Lofgren or Rep. Anna Eshoo, via the San Jose Spotlight.

TWEET OF THE DAY:

WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

SPOTTED — Gov. Gavin Newsom visited San Quentin State Prison Tuesday for a sit-down interview with actor/producer Jon Stewart, his office confirmed. Deputy Communications Director Izzy Gardon described it as a "broad-range one-on-one interview about corrections, rehabilitation and the governor’s decades-long work strengthening public safety in California’s communities."

State officials are currently in the process of trying to authorize transfers for San Quentin's 671 death row inmates to other state prisons. Newsom, who has long been a vocal critic of capital punishment, issued a moratorium on death sentences in 2019, which also closed the execution chamber at San Quentin. The interview is expected to air "late next month," Gardon said.

JOIN POLITICO ON 3/1 TO DISCUSS AMERICAN PRIVACY LAWS: Americans have fewer privacy rights than Europeans, and companies continue to face a minefield of competing state and foreign legislation. There is strong bipartisan support for a federal privacy bill, but it has yet to materialize. Join POLITICO on 3/1 to discuss what it will take to get a federal privacy law on the books, potential designs for how this type of legislation could protect consumers and innovators, and more. REGISTER HERE.

TOP TALKERS

— “They were accused of sexual misconduct. S.F. schools let them quietly resign,” by The San Francisco Standard’s Ida Mojadad, Matt Smith and Matthew Kupfer: “Multiple government investigations, meanwhile, reveal that schools nationwide have repeatedly kept alleged employee misconduct under wraps and that, in some cases, these teachers have gone on to prey on more students.”

CAMPAIGN MODE

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — SCHAAF PASS: Rep. Barbara Lee’s official Senate launch also initiated a scramble to claim Lee’s safe, Oakland-anchored seat. One to likely scratch off the list: Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who is now interim director of the women-candidate-nurturing Emerge California, told us she is “not at this time planning to run for Congress.” Oakland City Council member Dan Kalb will run for state Senate, seeking Nancy Skinner’s opening seat.

Among the contenders: Assemblymember Mia Bonta, who confirmed she was considering it; Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who sidestepped the question but said she was endorsing both Lee and Rep. Katie Porter; terming-out state Sen. Nancy Skinner; BART Board member Lateefah Simon; and former Oakland City Council member Loren Taylor.

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

— “Democratic governors form alliance on abortion rights,” by The Associated Press’ Bill Barrow and Geoff Mulvihill: “The group includes executives of heavily Democratic states like California, where voters overwhelmingly approve of abortion rights, but also involves every presidential battleground state led by a Democrat, including Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tony Evers of Wisconsin.”

— Progress on L.A. County stormwater capture program slowing, by the Los Angeles Times’ Hayley Smith: “What’s more, a one-size-fits-all approach can make it harder for some projects to get approved, since the same criteria doesn’t always make sense across different watersheds. Infrastructure projects, for example, must score 60 points according to a formula that takes into account water quality benefits, water supply benefits and other factors in order to be eligible for funding.”

— “California says it can no longer afford aid for Covid testing, vaccinations for migrants,” by California Healthline’s Don Thompson: “But now, as the liberal-leaning state confronts a projected $22.5 billion deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state can no longer afford to contribute to the centers, which also receive federal and local grants. The Democratic governor in January proposed phasing out state aid for some medical services in the next few months, and eventually scaling back the migrant assistance program unless President Joe Biden and Congress step in with help.”

— Banks' lobbying contradicts climate goals, by POLITICO’s Anne C. Mulkern: “A bill from Holden would authorize the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to develop a governance proposal for a regional grid, where authorities handling grid operations in other states could join. That plan would go to the California Energy Commission for review, then to the governor and the Legislature. After 270 days — unless the Legislature takes action to nullify the proposal — utilities outside California could elect to join the regional grid.”

— “Is California breaking its promise to cut health care costs?,” by CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang: “Health care advocates say Newsom’s latest budget proposal follows a pattern of missed opportunities to make insurance more affordable under Covered California.”

— “‘There’s just no hiding’: Inside the self-defense class for landlords,” by Capital & Main’s Jack Ross: “On a gray February day at the offices of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA), 11 landlords and property managers have enrolled in a two-and-a-hour self-defense class to protect themselves from “irate tenants,” “transients” and the other hazards of life in the private housing business. The course teaches them how to stop life-threatening bleeding, maintain “360 degrees of awareness,” take cover from bullets and disarm shooters.”

DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.

BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

— “New Biden policy limits asylum access at the southern border,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Hamed Aleaziz: “The effort is the latest Biden administration proposal to deter migrants from entering the U.S. without authorization and to bring down the numbers of migrants crossing the southern border. The policy is being unveiled as the administration prepares for the expected end in May of Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allows border agents to quickly turn back migrants at the border.”

— “Biden accuses Putin of atrocities and urges world to rebuke him,” by The New York Times’ David E. Sanger, Michael D. Shear and Anton Troianovski: “Mr. Biden did not call Mr. Putin a war criminal, as he did from Warsaw in March of last year, but he leveled a string of accusations against Mr. Putin, including taking Ukrainian children in an attempt to steal the country’s future, and for months cutting off exports of Ukrainian grain, causing a global food shortage.”

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— "FTC won’t challenge Amazon’s One Medical deal," by POLITICO's Josh Sisco.

MIXTAPE

— “Woman crushed when 60-foot oak tree topples onto SUV at park, California cops say,” by The Sacramento Bee’s Helena Wegner

— “Lawsuit alleges Santa Clara County violated disability law,” by the San Jose Spotlight’s Joseph Geha

CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this -only service offers, click here.

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