The Kids Online Safety Act has passed out of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, despite a last-minute amendment that removed specific mental health-related rules among other changes. It’s significantly different from the Senate version, and we’re likely to see more debate before a full House vote.
Inspired by the American remake of Speak No Evil, Verge alum Tasha Robinson fixes all your favorite films’ sad endings with a new, happier replacement. It should go without saying that spoilers abound.
It wasn’t clear the House would take up KOSA after its Senate passage, but the legislation — along with the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act — is midway down the list of 16 bills slated for consideration by the House Committee on Energy & Commerce starting at 10AM ET today. You can find the committee stream below.
Wired weighs in against the theory that pager batteries were overheated by a cyberattack to cause today’s fatal explosions, concluding an electronics shipment was more likely compromised and packed with explosives — and noting it wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened.
Attorney Daniel Tenny frames the government’s objection to TikTok. “It gathers a lot of information” and “it uses that information to try to assess what sorts of videos and other content is going to be of interest,” Tenny says. “That same data is extremely valuable to a foreign adversary.”
TikTok’s lawyer is off the stage, and Judge Noemi Rao is questioning Jeffrey Fisher, who represents a lawsuit from users of TikTok. Fisher’s argument so far centers on the claim that American media creators have a right to work with publishers of their choosing. Rao is questioning how far that right should stretch — emphasizing the judges’ focus on TikTok’s Chinese ownership.
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has just started its morning session, where TikTok and the US Government will be fighting over the divest-or-ban law passed earlier this year. There’s one brief argument in another case before it starts.
Debates over AI’s artistic value have focused on its generative output. But so far, interactive systems have proved far more interesting.
The Virginia courthouse is a stickler about security, so I’m posting on behalf of Lauren Feiner, who sent the following this morning:
The government didn’t say who would be testifying before court adjourned yesterday, but we left off with several industry players explaining the publisher side of the market. Blissfully, the DOJ said we’re running ahead of schedule already. About to say goodbye to my phone, take my last sip of water (neither allowed in the courtroom!) and head back in.