The year has been marked by upheaval in technology policy, with controversies, notably over the changing role of artificial intelligencethe fight for content moderation, concerns about children’s safety on social media, and efforts to limit the market power of Great technology.
In 2024, we will likely see new developments in all of these fights, but we will add new hot topics, including the renewed push for a net neutrality regulations and the debate over the role of the technology sector in what is already shaping up to be a knock-down fight of an election year.
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Here are 10 important technology topics to watch in 2024.
Elections and technology
AI is sure to be part of the political controversies of 2024, as campaigns look for new ways to leverage technology to gain an advantage with voters. But it’s just as certain that government officials and lawmakers will debate proposals to restrict the use of AI in campaigns as the long-running fight against election misinformation heats up again.
So too is the debate over the divergent political advertising policies of social media platforms, as new technological challenges and opportunities continue to shape the democratic process.
Also look for candidates to weigh in on the technology policy issues of the day. President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, has a well-established track record on most technology policy topics. He either directed his agencies or signed executive orders supporting antitrust measures against big tech companies, the return of net neutrality regulations for broadband networks, and increased government oversight of AI. Biden has publicly stated his support for repealing the social media liability shield, known as Section 230, and for Congress to pass laws addressing children’s online safety.
The front-runner for the Republican nomination, former President Donald Trump, has called for the repeal of Section 230, federal lawsuits to break up big tech companies and the need for federal control over the sector, as its failure clearly shows. effort as president to force the sale of TikTok to an American owner.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), the Republican Party’s 2024 nominee, has taken aggressive steps on technology policy in his state, including defending and then signing a law that, if it survives a court challenge Supreme Court of the United States, would restrict the activities of social media companies. right to remove third-party content from their sites. DeSantis has called for the breakup of Google and wrote in his recent book about “mastering big tech.” DeSantis signed state bills limiting the use of TikTok on government devices and in public schools. At the same time, Florida has spent more than $10 million on semiconductor subsidies under DeSantis’ leadership to attract more tech jobs to the Sunshine State.
Nikki Haley, who is also hoping to clinch the Republican presidential nomination, has not taken a public position on Section 230 or efforts to break up big tech companies, but has called for an outright ban on TikTok. The former South Carolina governor also launched, but later partially reversed, a plan to ban anonymous posts on social media. Haley, who served as the Trump administration’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for nearly two years, has also criticized semiconductor subsidies. American companies should be competitive in the marketplace and not receive “corporate giveaways,” Haley said.
Artificial intelligence
President Biden issued a 111-page executive order directing more than a dozen federal agencies to consider artificial intelligence in their work. It also requires a number of reports for developers of fundamental models that pose a risk to national security, economic security, or national public health and safety. These measures will come into force in 2024.
On the regulatory front, Congress will continue to consider intervening with the twin goals of making technology safe without crippling it in the race for global superiority against China.
Over the coming year, Congress will move from hearings and briefings with high-tech CEOs on AI to trying to pass the bills. Concerns about the technology appear to be bipartisan, but the fast-paced nature of AI and slow action by Congress may make it difficult to pass legislation.
Supreme Court weighs in on nation’s online content moderation laws
Over the coming year, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments and rule on two challenges to the nation’s content moderation laws from the largest social media companies. The Florida and Texas laws differ in their details, but both aim to prevent sites like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube from removing or minimizing their users’ posts. Industry trade groups say these laws are unconstitutional violations of the platform’s free speech rights. While many members of the Court’s conservative majority have taken hard lines on issues related to free speech, including corporate rights, the justices find themselves in uncharted territory here.
Children and online safety
States have been very active in 2023 in adopting and introducing child safety measures online, such as age verification, parental access, and time restrictions. Expect Washington lawmakers to try to emulate these efforts in 2024. But as many of these state laws are challenged in court on constitutional grounds, Washington will have to adapt its approach to avoid the same pitfalls as state bills. Watch for efforts to tie future kids online legislation to passage of a broader federal privacy law.
Big Tech antitrust lawsuits continue
The first of two federal antitrust trials against Google took place this fall and will likely be decided in 2024. It focuses on the company’s dominance in online searches and whether it acted illegally to stifle competition . A second lawsuit, involving Google’s online advertising business, will begin early next year. The Federal Trade Commission’s similar case against Amazon could go to court next year, but the case may not be decided within the calendar year. The FTC’s case to overturn Meta’s (then Facebook) acquisition of Instagram will be heard in February 2024.
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Net neutrality returns
Biden had long called for the Federal Communications Commission to reinstate Obama-era net neutrality rules in his broader executive order aimed at increasing competition in the U.S. economy. It took until fall 2023 for the FCC to vote in favor of the plan to reclassify broadband services as common carriers such as telephone companies, subject to increased oversight and regulation. If their efforts succeed, consumers could see the consequences of this policy in 2024. Supporters say these will be lower prices, but critics say net neutrality will slow innovation and reduce investment in the ‘industry.
Wildcard
The biggest tech policy lesson of 2023 was the meteoric rise of AI from a little-known technology to the hottest tech topic for policymakers. Before ChatGPT’s release on November 30, 2022, relatively few lawmakers and regulators had given AI much thought, but it has become ubiquitous in policy circles in Washington and state capitals. Who knows what revolutionary innovation in the tech world of 2024 might bring?
