For more on what the hearing was SUPPOSED to be about - defending the First Amendment from the Trump administration - read @publicknowledge.bsky.social colleague and SVP @haroldfeld.bsky.social testimony here:

publicknowledge.org/policy/harol...

The claim is rooted in a years-long, escalating series of claims that digital platforms systematically censor conservative political speech. Now it's extended to AI chatbots. More about the history here:

www.techpolicy.press/the-conserva...

Despite a stated focus on jawboning, this Senate Commerce hearing keeps circling back to "conservative censorship" on digital platforms. We have the receipts on that: it's not a thing.

techpolicy.press/what-does-re...

Congress should 1) call it out; 2) restore the independence of agencies; 3) promote transparency; 4) address the concentration of ownership in media and digital platforms; 5) consider legislation to introduce competition to the digital platform space; 6) consider cross-ownership limits in media.

For example, FCC Chair Brendan Carr has sacrificed the independence of the agency and repeatedly used the very real power of the FCC over licensees to meddle in content decisions that past FCC Chairs of both parties have considered off limits. Congress must act to draw clear lines in the sand.

In the Senate Commerce hearing @haroldfeld.bsky.social notes that coercive jawboning = a government contact + actual power to punish or reward the speaker + sufficient evidence that the government official intends to use that power. Jawboning is occurring regularly in this administration.

…and my heart.

In Part 2 of this two-part blog series, Policy Director @lisahmacpherson.bsky.social breaks down the solutions news publishers are gravitating towards, as well as promising policy solutions to protect the public and business interest alike in this fast-moving space:

They’re too busy surveilling us

Thank you so much to the panelists for their distinctive perspectives and insights - I learned a ton.

Enjoy your day off!

And @nickgarcia.bsky.social dissects two recent court cases in his post, "Courts Agree: AI Training Ruled As Fair Use in Bartz v. Anthropic and Kadrey v. Meta” 3/3

publicknowledge.org/courts-agree...