Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., is proposing 20 ways to rein in tech giants, such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter, according to a blueprint policy paper obtained by Axios.
The paper surfaced just days after social media giant Facebook suffered the most-significant one-day loss in market value ever, losing $119 billion on Thursday.
Suggestions in the policy paper range from imposing prices on individuals’ user data to providing funding for media literacy programs.
Warner, who made his living in telecommunications before running for public office, divided the ideas into three sections: combating disinformation, protecting user privacy, and promoting competition in tech.
One idea would involve requiring tech platforms to identify and label bot accounts compared to authentic accounts, and those that don’t comply would receive sanctions.
Another idea looks to make those platforms legally liable for claims of “defamation, invasion of privacy, false light, and public disclosure of private facts” if they fail to remove fabricated or altered footage.
“The size and reach of these platforms demand that we ensure proper oversight, transparency and effective management of technologies that in large measure undergird our social lives, our economy, and our politics,” Warner’s office wrote in the paper. “The hope is that the ideas enclosed here stir the pot and spark a wider discussion — among policymakers, stakeholders, and civil society groups — on the appropriate trajectory of technology policy in the coming years.”
There is no mention in the proposal of breaking up any of the big tech companies, which some extreme activists have called for.
