TikTok to Testify Before House Committee, Tech Association Warns on Antitrust, US Telecom Board Adds

January 30, 2023 – The CEO of video sharing app TikTok will appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23, the chair confirmed Monday.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-WA, said Shou Zi Chew will testify on the Chinese firm’s consumer privacy and data security practices, its impact on kids, and its relationship with the Chinese government.

It is the first time Chew will appear before a congressional hearing, according to a committee press release.

“Big Tech has increasingly become a destructive force in American society,” the committee said in a release. “The Energy and Commerce Committee has been at the forefront of asking Big Tech CEOs – from Facebook to Twitter to Google – to answer for their companies’ actions. These efforts will continue with TikTok.

“ByteDance-owned TikTok has knowingly allowed the ability for the Chinese Communist Party to access American user data,” the statement added. “Americans deserve to know how these actions impact their privacy and data security, as well as what actions TikTok is taking to keep our kids safe from online and offline harms. We’ve made our concerns clear with TikTok. It is now time to continue the committee’s efforts to hold Big Tech accountable by bringing TikTok before the committee to provide complete and honest answers for people.”

Industry association warns of patchwork of state antitrust laws

The Computer and Communications Industry Association released a report Thursday warning about the negative impact on businesses of states implementing various antitrust laws.

The association, which counts big tech companies including Google, Amazon and Apple as its members, flagged antitrust laws before state legislatures, including abuse of dominance, price discrimination, mergers and acquisitions reporting requirements, monopoly and monopsony, and regulating app stores.

It warns that problems addressing these issues on a state level could deter pro-competitive business activity. The CCIA said without a clear definition of discrimination, monopoly and monopsony, these laws could harm legitimate business practices and rob consumers of discounts – in the case of price discrimination, where a business provides different prices for similar products.

Excess reporting requirements on M&A could increase compliance costs for businesses because they already report the information to the federal government, it noted. And laws that prohibit app stores from banning alternative payment systems used for third-party apps could present privacy and security risks because payments systems chosen by those stores aim to provide the greatest safety for consumers and compliance on data protection legislation, the CCIA added.

Similar app store legislation and other antitrust legislation have been introduced in Congress.

“For each of these competition areas, if states adopt an increasing patchwork of laws, businesses will face difficulties navigating conflicting disparate requirements, which could ultimately result in barriers to innovation and investment.”

State legislatures with antitrust legislation include Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.

Last week, the Justice Department sued Google for allegedly abusing a monopoly over the technology that controls the digital advertising market.

USTelecom adds three board members

Industry association USTelecom announced Friday the addition of three new board members.

Joining are Texas’s Totelcom Communications CEO Jennifer Prather, Brightspeed vice president of public policy and government affairs Tom Dailey in Charlotte, North Carolina, and altafiber’s vice president and general counsel Chris Wilson in Cincinnati.

The association also added two members to its leadership committee, including general counsel for Oklahoma-based MBO family of telecom companies Jake Baldwin, and Ryan Johnson, interim CEO of telecom Chariton Valley in Missouri.

“These inspiring leaders represent the full spectrum of USTelecom’s diverse and dedicated members, who are squarely focused on connecting communities and businesses to the power of broadband-enabled innovation,” the association said in a press release.