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Publications: Ashley Johnson

March 18, 2024

Redefining Privacy Harms Would Unleash a Flood of Litigation

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.

March 11, 2024

Comments Before the Federal Trade Commission Regarding the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule

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.

March 6, 2024

Updated Children’s Safety Bills Still Contain Serious Flaws

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.

February 20, 2024

How Congress Can Foster a Digital Single Market in America

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.

February 16, 2024

Why Not Ban Everything Potentially Dangerous for Kids?

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

February 14, 2024

Joint Amicus Brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the Case of NetChoice v. Bonta

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.

February 6, 2024

Congress' Blame Game Won't Keep Children Safe Online

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.

January 26, 2024

Social Media Panic Is the New Video Game Panic

While there are real concerns associated with social media, especially as it relates to children and teens, policymakers will only create more problems by legislating out of fear and public pressure.

December 7, 2023

Joint Amicus Brief to the US Supreme Court in the Cases of Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton

All in all, upholding HB 20 or SB 7072 as constitutional would be a travesty for the Internet and the hundreds of millions of Americans who use it every day. The Court should reverse the Fifth Circuit and affirm the Eleventh Circuit.

November 17, 2023

Lacking a Federal Standard, States Try and Fail to Solve Problems Faced by Kids Online

The landscape of state legislation addressing children’s online safety and privacy demonstrates not only the difficulty of regulating social media and other online services but also the need for a federal standard.

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