A Pennsylvania Senate panel unanimously supported a kids’ social media bill while removing the original proposal’s private right of action. At a livestreamed hearing Tuesday, the Communications Committee voted by voice on a bipartisan basis for SB-22, which would amend the state’s mental health statute to add rules for minors on social platforms, with penalties for violations. It would require parental consent for anyone under 16 to open a social media account and prohibit data mining for any user under 18. Legislators crafted an amendment after months of negotiations with tech companies, said Vice Chair Kristin Phillips-Hill (R), the bill’s co-sponsor. It replaces a private right of action with exclusive enforcement by the state attorney general, revises the definition of a social media platform, elaborates on social media companies duties for age verification and tweaks the bill’s data mining section, she said. The bill doesn’t apply to e-commerce companies, said the vice chair, responding to a question by Sen. Frank Farry (R). “The data shows that far too many minors are struggling with mental health and that social media is a contributing factor,” said Phillips-Hill. The Computer and Communications Industry Association opposed the bill before the amendment, including because of the private right of action. CCIA declined to say Tuesday if the amendment addressed its concerns.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
California legislators voted to require wireless eligibility for state broadband funds on the last day of their session Thursday. Wireless is a “reliable substitute … when it’s impossible to use fiber,” said Assembly Communications Committee Vice Chair Jim Patterson (R) in an interview Friday. The Utility Reform Network (TURN) prefers fiber and remains opposed.
Connecticut telecom regulators expect Frontier Communications and subsidiary SNET “to continue to comply with all state statutes, regulations and Authority orders regardless of the location of their headquarters,” a Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) spokesperson emailed. Frontier said Wednesday it will move to Dallas from Norwalk, Connecticut (see 2309130044). “As a holding company, Frontier was not required to provide notice to PURA regarding its headquarters and did not do so," the PURA spokesperson said.
Colorado should fund next-generation 911 (NG-911) with $1.6 million remaining from a 2022-retired enforcement mechanism called the Colorado Performance Assurance Plan (CPAP), commenters said Friday at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. However, groups disagreed on which nonprofit should administer funds tagged for emergency services.
The California Senate passed a broadband bill that seeks to streamline permitting. But state legislators punted on a proposed TikTok ban. The Senate voted 40-0 Wednesday for AB-965, which would allow simultaneous processing of multiple broadband permit applications for similar project sites under a single permit and require local governments to decide applications within a reasonable time (see 2308170044). Local government groups had been the bill’s main foes but became neutral after some Senate amendments. The Assembly previously passed the bill but must vote again after Friday to concur with Senate changes. Also Wednesday, the Assembly ordered SB-74 to the inactive file at the request of Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D). It proposes prohibiting high-risk social media apps that, like TikTok, are at least partly owned by an entity or “country of concern.” A spokesperson for sponsor Sen. Bill Dodd (D) said the bill isn't dead. “It won’t be taken up before the end of this session but will be taken up next year.” The procedural maneuver “allows Sen. Dodd to continue working with stakeholders to refine it,” gives the senator more time to review the governor's AI executive order from this week (see 2309060037) and reduces how many bills legislators must deal with before session ends Sept. 14, the spokesperson said. Bryan didn’t comment. On Tuesday, state senators voted 35-0 to pass AB-414, which would create a digital equity bill of rights. The Assembly may take it up for concurrence as soon as Friday. Also Tuesday, the Senate voted 39-0 for AB-947, which would add immigration and citizenship status to the California Consumer Protection Act’s definition of sensitive personal information. It previously passed the Assembly and next needs a signature from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
California’s inadequate enforcement of telecom service quality perpetuates inequity, said Small Business Utility Advocates regulatory attorney Itzel Hayward at a California Public Utilities Commission workshop Thursday. A public advocates panel asked the CPUC for stronger penalties against carriers and to apply plain old telephone service (POTS) quality rules to VoIP, broadband and wireless services. Commissioner Darcie Houck urged parties in docket R.22-03-016 to “think outside the box.”
It’s good for the federal government to fund chips in states that have already spent their own money, rather than trying to spread money across every area that hasn’t invested in semiconductors, said panelists on an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) webinar Wednesday. State officials discussed their roles in helping the Chips Act succeed. “Piggybacking on the work we’re doing is what is going to see us succeed,” said Kevin Younis, New York Empire State Development chief operating officer. “There has to be strategic cluster-based investments [or] we’re not going to succeed. With the peanut butter spread over the whole sandwich, you won’t taste it.” States can help the Chips Act succeed by addressing the workforce gap and cutting red tape, said David Isaacs, Semiconductor Industry Association vice president-government affairs. "There's a huge gap throughout the economy in skilled workers," with the semiconductor industry “just a small slice of the overall pie,” said Isaacs. An SIA report said about 58% of needed jobs may not be filled, including engineers, computer scientists and technicians, he said: “We need to see federal-state partnerships with industry and education to train these workers.” Also, states can play an important role speeding projects by streamlining permitting and other regulatory approval processes, he said. Arizona Commerce Authority CEO Sandra Watson said her state is “constantly having conversations about the regulatory environment and how to make that easier on industry.”
State senators chose not to advance a bill that would have limited California rules for the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday held the Assembly-passed AB-662, which was opposed by local and consumer advocates (see 2308170044). Assembly Communications Committee Chair Tasha Boerner said earlier her bill’s purpose was to bring accountability to the California Public Utilities Commission. The Democrat didn’t comment Tuesday. The committee also held AB-296 on 911 public education and AB-1546, which would have extended the statute of limitations for privacy claims brought by the state attorney general. AB-1546 sponsor Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D) said, “We’re disappointed that the bill won’t be moving forward this year, but are committed to continuing our effort to protect Californians' privacy rights.” The panel voted 7-0 to advance AB-286 on adjusting state broadband map requirements to the Senate floor. It also unanimously cleared AB-1065, which would explicitly authorize wireless broadband providers to apply for CASF federal funding account grants. Also Friday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee voted 16-0 for SB-60, which would explicitly authorize wireless broadband providers to apply for CASF federal funding account grants. The panel also unanimously advanced to the floor SB-74 to prohibit high-risk social media apps that, like TikTok, are at least partly owned by an entity or “country of concern.”
Lumen restored Nebraska 911 service after fiber cuts led to outages statewide from Thursday night to Friday morning. “Our team worked throughout the night to fix the issue” and “the system is now fully functional,” a Lumen spokesperson said Friday. Nebraska experienced regional 911 system failures statewide Thursday evening, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen’s office said in a statement that night. The state's 911 system went down at about 7:30 p.m. CDT Thursday, Nebraska’s Douglas County said Thursday on Facebook. The state’s most populous county posted Friday at 8:10 a.m. CDT that services were restored. “Sarpy County’s 911 network provider experienced what they described as a network event that disrupted calls to 911 across Nebraska,” Sarpy County said Friday. “The network provider is investigating the source of the disruption.” Lumen said the outage began at 7:05 p.m. CDT Thursday and service was restored at 5:30 a.m. CDT Friday, said the Nebraska Public Service Commission: The PSC is working with the carrier to determine what caused the cut. The FCC didn’t comment.
California Public Utilities Commission members rejected the state cable association’s bid to reconsider what counts as free broadband service as it doles out public housing grants. Through a unanimous vote on the consent agenda at a webcast Thursday meeting, California commissioners denied a California Broadband and Video Association (CalBroadband) petition. Commissioners later voted 5-0 to approve a $1.77 million grant to South Valley Internet under the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) line extension program.