A change in TikTok ownership wouldn’t solve the "problem" with the platform because it wouldn’t “impose any new restrictions on data flows or access,” TikTok said in a statement Friday.
The full FCC should review and overturn the Standard/Tegna hearing designation order (HDO) by March 27 or the broadcasters will seek judicial review and challenge the constitutionality of the FCC’s administrative law judge, said Standard General, Tegna and Cox Media Group Friday in an application for review and motion for waiver and expedited review (see 2303160077). The HDO denies the transaction “without due process” and the FCC “should swiftly correct that overreach,” said the broadcasters. “If the Commission has not done so by 5:00 p.m. on March 27, applicants will have no choice but to seek judicial relief.”
FCC action on Newsmax's January blackout on DirecTV (see 2301250042) is unlikely, though it generated a brief burst of complaints filed with the FCC plus House GOP lawmaker ire, media industry officials said in interviews. There also have been almost no signals a congressional hearing is likely in the near future, lawmakers and media observers told us. Newsmax and DirecTV didn't comment.
An FCC robotexting order approved Thursday (see 2303160061) and posted Friday interjects a changed focus from “unwanted” text messages to “potentially harmful” and “unlawful” texts. Officials said Thursday the order included “minor” tweaks addressing changes sought by Commissioner Brendan Carr and industry. CTIA was able to get several changes it sought, based on a side-by-side comparison. Commissioners made few changes to a Stir/Shaken order, also released Friday.
The FTC will issue orders to TikTok, Twitter, Meta, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, Snap and Pinterest requesting internal data about how platforms handle deceptive advertising (see 2303090044).
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., pressed the FCC Thursday for a detailed accounting of its distribution of money to four broadband programs enacted via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and COVID-19 aid measures. Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., meanwhile, led refiling of the Funding Affordable Internet with Reliable (Fair) Contributions Act.
The FCC’s administrative law judge won’t pause the hearing process and put the Standard/Tegna deal in front of the full commission, said an ALJ order Thursday. After that decision, Standard General asked three FCC commissioners to trigger “must vote” on the transaction, which would require Commissioner Geoffrey Starks to split with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to side with the agency’s Republicans. That's considered unlikely.
The FCC clamped down, for the first time, on robotexts and closed what it called a loophole in Stir/Shaken rules. Both items were approved, as expected (see 2303130049 and 2303140062), by unanimous votes Thursday with minor tweaks. Neither item has been posted.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said Thursday he’s “not weighing in at all” in favor of either of the dueling proposals under Senate consideration for temporarily extending the FCC’s spectrum auction authority, amid the continued impasse that led to the mandate lapsing last week (see 2303100084). Senators left town for the weekend Thursday without a deal to pass a House-approved bill to extend the FCC’s authority until May 19 (HR-1108) or a rival proposal that would renew it through Sept. 30 (S-650), meaning there won’t be further action until at least next week. The Senate is expected to return Tuesday, while the House will return from more than a week-long recess Wednesday.
FCC commissioners unanimously approved a supplemental coverage from space (SCS) NPRM at their March open meeting Thursday, but Republican commissioners sounded alarms about the proceeding potentially slowing agency processing of pending applications regarding satellite connectivity to smartphones. The NPRM's approval was expected (see 2303090047). Also getting 4-0 OK was an inmate calling services (ICS) NPRM on implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act and a Further NPRM on expanding the number of broadcast TV markets required to provide audio description (see 2303100043). The approved items weren't released.