Internet

Stop Treating Internet Platforms as the Enemy—They’re Not
From investigations launched by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to senators calling for their dismantling, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google long have been the target of heated debates around antitrust concerns, Joe Kennedy writes in an op-ed for The Hill.
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For a menu of actionable ideas for policymakers related to the Internet, see ITIF’s “Tech Policy To-Do List.”

Internet
Check a box to narrow search for individual content items that cover numerous issues.
August 3, 2020
Podcast: Designing a Federal Privacy Standard, With Special Guest Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA)
There is a pressing need to preempt states from subjecting organizations to multiple, conflicting privacy rules. The debate now is not over whether to pass new legislation, but how to design such a law to protect consumers while encouraging continued innovation.
July 29, 2020
Stop Treating Internet Platforms as the Enemy—They’re Not
From investigations launched by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to senators calling for their dismantling, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google long have been
July 10, 2020
The EARN IT Act Is a Threat to Privacy, Free Speech, and the Internet Economy
Online child exploitation is a serious problem that Congress should continue to investigate and law enforcement should continue to prosecute, but Congress should look for options that do not limit free speech and privacy or unnecessarily expose Internet companies to expensive lawsuits.
July 8, 2020
Can Algorithms Tackle the ‘Infodemic’?
ITIF's Center for Data Innovation hosted a discussion about the efficacy of using algorithms to moderate content, the role algorithms can play in addressing the infodemic, and the ways policymakers can support innovation in automated content moderation.
June 30, 2020
Comments to the U.S. Trade Representative Regarding Section 301 Investigations of Digital Services Taxes
The core argument that users create value is wrong. The distribution of taxable profits between countries normally reflects where value is created. The export of a product or service, whether digital or analog, usually does not create additional value and profits from imports into a country are normally not subject to corporate income tax.
June 8, 2020
Fact of the Week: U.S. E-commerce Grew 8.2 Percent in 2018, Reaching $8.3 Trillion in Revenue
The Census Bureau significantly expanded data gathering about the digital economy in 2017, for the first time including the service sector. It has now released 2018 data, identifying $8.3 trillion in e-commerce revenue, up $633 billion from 2017.
June 8, 2020
A Data Sales Tax Would Change the Internet for the Worse
Companies that rely on advertising revenue or other business models involving user data already pay taxes on their profits. Taxing them a second time for the data they collect doesn’t make sense, and it would unbalance the Internet ecosystem and put a price on many of the free services consumers currently enjoy.
June 8, 2020
Freedom Is Not Free License: Freedom House’s Flawed Measurement of “Internet Freedom”
The advocacy group’s annual report on Internet and digital media freedom is more polemic than dispassionate analysis. The State Department should stop funding it unless it focuses on true violations of Internet freedom, such as political persecution.
June 8, 2020
How to Balance Internet Freedom and Security in the United States
Lawmakers have taken several positive steps in recent years to balance the benefits of data collection with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties. That should continue.
June 4, 2020
In Praise of Big Internet: The Economic Importance of Internet Companies
Big Internet, like other advanced industries like Big Auto, Big Aerospace, and Big Pharma, plays a key role in driving U.S. competitiveness, innovation, job creation, and economic growth. As such, policymakers should be careful to not cripple this engine of U.S. prosperity.

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