The Anti-Spoofing Penalties Modernization Act (S-594) if enacted would be unlikely to cost any additional money for the FCC to implement because “we do not expect the number of cases pursued by the FCC to change,” the Congressional Budget Office said in a Friday cost estimate. S-594, which the Senate Commerce Committee advanced in November (see 2111170071), would double the minimum fine per instance of illegal spoofing to $20,000 and up the maximum penalty to $2 million from $1 million. It would also extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting spoofing violations to three years from two years. S-594 “would increase collections of civil forfeiture penalties … by an insignificant amount over the 2022-2031 period,” CBO said. “The FCC does not typically seek the maximum penalty allowed under current law and though the commission has assessed millions of dollars in forfeiture penalties over the past five years, it has only collected about $25,000.”

Meta needs to stop “amplifying dangerous and unhealthy eating disorder content” for young Instagram and Facebook users, Democratic lawmakers wrote the company Friday. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote the letter with Reps. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., and Kathy Castor, D-Fla. They cited research showing Instagram’s algorithms promote pro-eating-disorder content to users 18 to 19 years old, celebrating “thinspiration.” Meta’s ad and content promotion practices are “fundamentally inconsistent with young users’ wellbeing,” they wrote. Many research reports fail to understand that removing all eating-disorder content can do more harm than good, especially for those struggling, emailed a Meta spokesperson. “Experts and safety organizations have told us it’s important to strike a balance between allowing people to share their stories or struggle with recovery while still removing any content that encourages or promotes eating disorders, which is what we try to do.” Meta is testing its “nudges” feature to steer users away from dwelling on harmful content, said the spokesperson.

The Senate voted 67-27 Thursday to formally begin conference talks aimed at marrying elements of the House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act (HR-4521) and Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260). Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo again pressed lawmakers during a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing to move forward on talks to produce a compromise innovation measure, citing the need to bolster the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing industry (see 2204270065). Both measures include $52 billion in subsidies to encourage U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturing (see 2201260062) but differ in other areas.

House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and subpanel Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., filed a companion version of the Robocall Trace Back Enhancement Act (S-3335) Wednesday. The measure, filed in the Senate in December, would protect the Traced Act’s USTelecom-led Industry Traceback Group by providing immunity from lawsuits for “receiving, sharing and publishing” certain “covered” trace-back information, including information on “suspected fraudulent, abusive or unlawful robocalls” (see 2112080059). Reps. John Curtis, R-Utah, and Tom O’Halleran, D-Ariz., are also co-sponsors of the House bill. “We made significant strides in Congress to protect consumers from scams and fraud with” the 2019 Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act, Latta said. “But as time passes, bad actors are constantly morphing their tactics in an effort to continue with their illegal scams. I am proud that with the Robocall Trace Back Enhancement Act, we can build upon our work to stop bad actors in their tracks and protect the American people from their schemes.” Latta and other lawmakers are eyeing whether a new robocall legislative package is possible this year (see 2204210025).

Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Greg Pence, R-Ind., filed a House companion to the Senate's Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act (S-3309) Tuesday. The measure, which Senate Commerce advanced in December (see 2112150069), would direct the Commerce Department’s SelectUSA program to work with state-level economic development organizations to develop strategies to attract investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturers and supply chains. “Disruptions in the semiconductor supply chain have impacted nearly every aspect of our economy and the daily lives of Americans,” Eshoo said. “Our Country has had to learn the hard way that relying on foreign supply chains jeopardizes our economic and national security,” Pence said. “There are other nations who know this, wanting to outpace our economy and chip away at our hold as a global superpower, and take advantage of this fact. America cannot be caught off-guard again, and this legislation would address that shortcoming.”

Top Republicans on the Senate and House Commerce committees urged NTIA Tuesday to rely solely on the FCC’s pending revised broadband coverage data maps as the basis for distributing money from the $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment program. It should not prioritize any particular type of network or broadband technology in evaluating applications for money from the infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, they said. The committees’ Democratic leaders in March urged “an emphasis on affordability, digital inclusion, high-capacity networks, competition, and community engagement” as part of NTIA’s implementation of IIJA (see 2204130049). “Closing the digital divide is a top priority of Congress, but this will only be achieved if NTIA carefully administers these programs and prioritizes unserved and underserved communities based on accurate data,” Senate Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi, House Commerce ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and the GOP leads on the House and Senate Communications subcommittees jointly urged NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson to “not deviate” from IIJA’s “explicit instructions” for determining what areas would be eligible to receive the law’s broadband funding, including making unserved areas the top priority. NTIA should also “refrain from adding additional, needless requirements that will increase the cost and challenges of deploying new networks,” the Republicans said. “These include requiring broadband providers to commit to net neutrality restrictions, adopting burdensome labor standards, and favoring open-access networks.” Senate Communications ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., raised concerns during Davidson’s confirmation process that the now-administrator hadn’t committed to not requiring companies receiving BEAD money to follow net neutrality requirements (see 2112140074).

The Communications Workers of America launched what it described Monday as a “six-figure” online ad campaign urging all 50 Senate Democrats to support FCC nominee Gigi Sohn, who has faced a difficult confirmation process since President Joe Biden picked her in October (see 2204150063). CWA bought ads aimed at a national audience and others targeted at audiences in Arizona, Nevada and West Virginia. Three Democratic senators from those states -- Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto, Arizona’s Mark Kelly and West Virginia’s Joe Manchin -- are considered undecided on Sohn (see 2203300069). The delay in Sohn’s confirmation “makes it harder for the FCC to serve the American people, which is how the corporations that the agency is meant to regulate like it,” said CWA Senior Director-Government Affairs and Policy Shane Larson in a statement. “It’s past time for the Senate to confirm her so that the FCC can have a full complement of commissioners and get to work.” CWA’s campaign follows ads that One Country Project began disseminating last week in opposition to Sohn, targeted at senators in six states: Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Montana, Nevada and West Virginia. Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., a member of One Country’s board, began criticizing Sohn in March (see 2203170070).

The House plans to consider two telecom supply chain bills as soon as Wednesday under suspension of the rules: the Transatlantic Telecommunications Security Act (HR-3344) and Protecting Semiconductor Supply Chain Materials from Authoritarians Act (HR-7372). HR-3344 and Senate companion S-2876 would help Central and Eastern European countries build 5G networks using equipment not made by Chinese manufacturer Huawei, including by authorizing U.S. International Development Finance Corporation financing for infrastructure development. HR-7372 would create a working group for reporting on the semiconductor supply chain disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The group would develop strategies for bolstering supplies of semiconductor materials and monitor potential threats to supply chains.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will testify at a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the Commerce Department's FY 2023 budget priorities, the panel said. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell. President Joe Biden's FY23 spending proposal for Commerce includes $67 million for NTIA (see 2203280069). The Patent Office would get $4.25 billion, NIST would get $1.47 billion and the Bureau of Industry and Security would get $199.55 million.

Apple CEO Tim Cook’s comments last week criticizing new antirust legislation on privacy grounds suggest he’s “terrified” of competition, and that the company doesn’t want U.S. consumers circumventing the App Store (see 2204120062), said Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in a statement Friday. Cook spoke about privacy concerns about the Open App Markets Act (S-2710), introduced by Blackburn and Blumenthal, leaders of the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee. “It misses the mark to say we can’t have both consumer privacy and competition in the app marketplace,” they said. The Senate Judiciary Committee-passed bill “acknowledges this balance. Suggesting otherwise is a scare tactic to justify closing markets off to competition.” They agreed with Cook about the need for comprehensive privacy legislation and said there are active discussions among parties.