Christopher A. Coons

05/04/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/04/2022 18:32

Sen. Coons chairs Judiciary subcommittee hearing on transparency around social media platforms

WASHINGTON - Today, Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology andtheLaw, chaired a hearing focused on understanding the impact of social media. He discussed his bipartisan bill, the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act (PATA), to increase transparency around social media companies. The full hearing can be seen here.

His full opening remarks are below:

"Social media companies, as we all know, play an enormously important role in our lives and in our society. They have helped to connect billions of people across the world and deliver a whole range of new and innovative services, in ways that provide tremendous value to individuals, families and communities.

At the same time, there are critical questions about the potential negative effects these platforms may have, concerns about propagation of misinformation, incitement of violence or serious impacts on their self-concept or mental health.

A central issue that we face in confronting these questions, whether as a consumer, as a parent, or as policymakers, is what are the facts? What are the actual facts?

Right now, we don't really have a well-grounded, data driven understanding of how social media platforms are impacting us in our society.

The reality is the vast expanses of human interaction that occur on any given large social media platform can be studied and analyzed really only by that platform. It's a problem, and it's why in my view, we need to promote greater transparency. And transparency is important for consumers and the public, who should know how a platform they're choosing to engage with is potentially affecting them.

Transparency is important for policymakers so we can better write whatever rules will regulate these platforms going forward.

And transparency, I would argue, is important for platforms themselves. Because transparency itself is a positive means to change.

Greater transparency can address the deeply-rooted market failure of imperfect information. We've seen how public disclosure of internal research or other data can create a conversation, can alter consumer behavior or lead to regulatory scrutiny and then initiate market pressure that then leads these platforms to adjust their behavior in potentially positive ways.

On top of all that, I think pursuing greater transparency is and should be nonpartisan. All signs, all points along the political spectrum, have questions that can be answered by greater transparency. Some of the most pressing topics like the effects platforms have on our children's mental health, transcend political affiliation. This hearing will explore how to bring about greater transparency.

What are the right pathways? What are the questions that we have? We need to ask and answer them.

Last winter, late last winter, I released the discussion draft of the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act, known by the catchy acronym PATA, with Senators Portman and Klobuchar. That draft bill would provide for transparency by creating the first provision to require platforms to make certain key information available to the public on an ongoing basis, high levels of ads, algorithms, and widely-viewed content. Second, a mechanism for data access by truly independent researchers through the National Science Foundation, Federal Trade Commission, and third a safe harbor so researchers conducting research in the public interest need not hear legal action.

We released this though as a discussion graph knowing that it raises important questions. I look forward to this hearing, to discussing those questions as well as many others alongside my ranking member.

I think those questions include making sure we are striking the right balance between privacy and transparency, and appropriately also, again, when colleagues are doing on these issues in Europe, and what legislation may arise in the states. Of course PATA is not the only goal out there to address these issues. I want to thank some of my colleagues, Senator Blumenthal, Blackburn, for example, for their work on the Kids Online Safety is also relevant to this discussion. With Senator Sasse's cooperation we've assembled an all-star panel with a diversity of views and perspectives to grapple with these questions today. I look forward to it. I will introduce you shortly, but now I'm going to turn to my colleague ranking member Senator Sasse.

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