Senate Panel to Mark Up Broadband, Artificial Intelligence Bills

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2024 – A Senate panel is scheduled to meet Wednesday to vote on two broadband-related bills and a handful of bills dealing with artificial intelligence, including one criminalizing the use of AI to publish "revenge porn."

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is hoping to pass the PLAN for Broadband Act (S. 2238) and the Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2023 (S. 275) despite recent turmoil within the committee.

In recent months, Cantwell has had difficulty reporting bills to the full Senate, mainly because of sharp partisan differences over spectrum legislation and proposals to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). But those issues won’t be before her committee on Wednesday, according to the most recent agenda posted on the panel’s homepage.

The bipartisan PLAN ACT would require the Biden administration "to develop a national strategy to close the digital divide and a plan to implement that strategy," according to co-sponsors Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M.

The PLAN Act came in response to a May 2023 Government Accountability Office report that found that federal broadband efforts were “fragmented and overlapping, with more than 133 funding programs administered by 15 agencies.” 

In May, the House passed the bipartisan PLAN for Broadband Act introduced by Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Annie Kuster, D-N.H. The bill would also require the Biden administration "to develop and implement a national strategy to close the digital divide."

Under the Rural Broadband Protection Act, the Federal Communications Commission would need to establish a thorough vetting and verification process to ensure that Internet Service Providers that receive federal support have “a proven track record of success and have demonstrated sound judgment in deploying in hard-to-serve areas.”

The RBPA, introduced by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito. R-W.Va., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., would apply to ISPs receiving funds from the FCC’s high-cost program within the $8.1 billion Universal Service Fund. The bill has the support of USTelecom – the Broadband Association and NTCA – the Rural Broadband Association.

Cantwell’s panel is expected to consider nine AI-related bills, including the TAKE IT DOWN Act (S. 4569) co-sponsored by Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind. and Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Cruz is the senior Republican on the committee.

The TAKE IT DOWN Act – which is intended to protect victims of revenge porn – “would criminalize the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including AI-generated NCII (or ‘deepfake pornography’), and require social media and similar websites to have in place procedures to remove such content upon notification from a victim,” according to a June 18 statement by Cruz.

Under provisions enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, websites and social media platforms would have 48 hours to remove NCII content after receiving a valid request from a victim.

“By creating a level playing field at the federal level and putting the responsibility on websites to have in place procedures to remove these images, our bill will protect and empower all victims of this heinous crime,” Cruz said.