December 9 2022

This Week in Washington 

• Nextgov: Members of the House and Senate have reconciled their two versions of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, allowing for $858 billion in spending by the Department of Defense, in addition to the Department of Energy and intelligence agencies.
• Reuters: U.S. senators scaled back a proposal that placed new curbs on the use of Chinese-made chips by the U.S. government and its contractors amid pushback from trade groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
• The Wall Street Journal: A potential deal between the Biden administration and TikTok—once expected around year-end—has run into more delays, according to people familiar with the situation, as worry grows over national-security concerns that U.S. officials say the popular app poses.
• CyberScoop: Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said the agency’s 2023 priorities include working with state and local officials to prepare for the next presidential election and making inroads with corporate boards to improve how the C-suite manages cyber risk.
• The Hill: Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Tuesday that he is open to revising Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in response to rising hate speech on Twitter directed at Black and Jewish Americans.
• NBC News: Hackers linked to the Chinese government stole at least $20 million in U.S. Covid relief benefits, including Small Business Administration loans and unemployment insurance funds in over a dozen states, according to the Secret Service.

Article Summary

• Politico: Some 150 NATO cybersecurity experts assembled in an unimposing beige building in the heart of Estonia’s snow-covered capital this week to prepare for a cyberwar.
• Axios: The U.S. is barreling toward a quantum computing future, but until it’s here, it’s unknown if all the investments and time spent preparing the country’s cybersecurity will pay off.
• Fierce Telecom: Massachusetts officials revealed an effort to close last mile broadband gaps in 53 un- and underserved towns in the western half of the state is nearly complete after seven years of work.
• Washington Post: Findings from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the Anti-Defamation League and other groups that study online platforms — provide the most comprehensive picture to date of the unprecedented rise in hate speech on Twitter since Mr. Musk completed his $44 billion deal for the company.
• NPR: Maryland is banning the use of TikTok and certain China and Russia-based platforms in the state’s executive branch of government, Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday, the latest state to address cybersecurity risks presented by the platforms.

Featured Podcast

Marketplace Tech Podcast

• Tech Policy Podcast
  Much of the social media ecosystem — love it or hate it — has been made possible by a federal law from 1996 called the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 of that law shields online publishers like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube from liability for much of the content posted on their platforms. This week, the Supreme Court announced it will hear challenges to that law. One of the cases, Reynaldo Gonzalez v. Google LLC, questions whether Section 230 protects platforms that use algorithms to recommend content to users. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University School of Law. He said there are a few ways the decision could go. (Are platforms liable for user content? Supreme Court may reset the rules – December 7, 2022)