Social media platforms tout many of their products as free, a price point consumers almost always find appealing. Two senators who disagree, claiming the costs are merely obscured, have devised a bill to show users how high they are.
The proposal from Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., would require companies with more than 100 million monthly active users to disclose what types of data they collect, how it’s being used, and what it’s worth. The Designing Accounting Safeguards to Help Broader Oversight and Regulations on Data Act, or DASHBOARD Act, would also force tech companies to inform users which third parties their information is being shared with and give them the option of deleting it.
“For years, social media companies have told consumers that their products are free to the users. But that’s not true — you are paying with your data instead of your wallet,” Warner said in a statement. “The overall lack of transparency and disclosure in this market have made it impossible for users to know what they’re giving up, who else their data is being shared with, or what it’s worth to the platform.”
Among the tech companies that would have to comply with the measure are Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Facebook, which has more than 2.3 billion monthly active users, disclosed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year that its average revenue per user was $6.42.
“When a big tech company says its product is free, consumers are the ones being sold,” Hawley said. “These ‘free’ products track everything we do so tech companies can sell our information to the highest bidder and use it to target us with creepy ads.”
The bill is only the most recent attempt by Congress to regulate Silicon Valley’s biggest players.
Warner and Hawley teamed with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., last month on legislation that would let users block collection of certain data. Hawley separately introduced a bill last week that would strip tech giants of the immunity for user-posted content they receive under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act unless they show evidence their algorithms and content-removal policies are “politically neutral.”
The proposal, which would address Republican censorship complaints, would apply only to internet companies with more than 30 million monthly users in the U.S. or 300 million monthly users worldwide. It was met with mixed reviews, with some conservatives and internet groups panning the idea.
Tech giants have come under heightened political scrutiny from Congress since the 2016 election, when Russia exploited social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to influence and inflame voters. U.S. intelligence agencies say the Kremlin leveraged the services to build support for President Trump’s candidacy, a claim the White House has brushed aside.
At the same time, lawmakers have pushed social media companies to better safeguard user data and remove violent content more quickly, while conservatives and President Trump, who boasts more than 61 million Twitter followers, have accused them of suppressing conservative opinions.
To combat the growing influence and power of Silicon Valley’s most powerful players, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, suggested taking antitrust action against tech giants, while Democratic presidential contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., advocated breaking up Facebook, Google, and Amazon.
