Publications: Ashley Johnson

In its current form, Section 230 allows for a diverse Internet ecosystem, allowing online services to moderate content in a way that best suits their needs and the needs of their users. It is highly unlikely that, in 18 months, Congress will come up with a better solution.

In many regards, the proposed American Privacy Rights Act is a reasonable bipartisan compromise, though its draft language still has plenty of opportunities for fine-tuning and three provisions in particular that would have serious negative economic consequences if passed into law.

Recent history has demonstrated that any federal privacy bill faces an uphill battle toward becoming law. However, the vast similarities between the APRA and ADPPA are cause for cautious optimism.

In recent years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has aggressively scrutinized the tech sector, going after virtual reality, artificial intelligence, online marketplaces, and Internet service providers. Now in its latest case against data brokers, the FTC and the courts could change the definition of privacy harms, unleashing a flood of litigation and potentially undermining the data economy.

Protecting children’s privacy online is an important goal, especially given the continued lack of comprehensive federal privacy regulation in the United States. With a few minor changes to proposed provisions, the FTC’s updates to the COPPA rule would improve protections for children while ensuring operators of online services do not face overly burdensome requirements.

Though Congress is finally making progress on federal children’s online safety legislation with the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), they contain serious flaws that would threaten online free speech, privacy, and the digital economy.

In areas ranging from data privacy to content moderation, states are creating patchworks of regulation that confuse consumers, complicate compliance, and undermine the digital economy. It’s time for Congress to step in and establish a consistent national approach to digital policy.

Effective protection for children online requires a combination of parental responsibility, industry standards, and regulation, not blanket restrictions and bans.

Starting from a young age, people use websites to express themselves, connect with others, and learn about a world beyond what they experience in their everyday lives. California’s AADC would completely upend this bustling marketplace of ideas.

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary's most recent “Big Tech” hearing on online child sexual exploitation highlighted everything wrong with the current debate surrounding children’s online safety.