JCPA TAKES CENTER STAGE — The Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee today will hold a hearing on the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act S. 673 (117), legislation that would enable news publishers to collectively negotiate with social media companies — namely, Facebook and Google — over how news is distributed online. Debate over this legislation has only intensified since it was introduced in both chambers last year , and today's hearing signals that action is ramping up again as Democrats scramble to fast-track their agenda ahead of the midterms. — Global context: The JCPA is part of a global trend of governments siding with news publishers against the social media giants. The Canadian government is working on a similar proposal to ensure Facebook and Google pay media outlets for their news content . And Australia last year became the first government to pass actual legislation to that end, initially spurring aggressive resistance from Facebook and Google. The U.S. proposal is somewhat different — for instance, it has a four-year time limit — but it could fundamentally alter the power dynamic between news publishers and social media companies. Right now, news publishers argue Facebook and Google have harmed the media ecosystem by soaking up the majority of ad revenue. The Computer and Communications Industry Association warns the bill would allow news publishers to operate as a cartel. Danielle Coffey, executive vice president and general counsel with trade group the News Media Alliance, told MT that the legislation will "finally hold Big Tech accountable for their massive taking of quality journalism without paying fair market value for that content as they do in other countries around the world." (The News Media Alliance represents thousands of news publishers, including Axel Springer, which owns POLITICO.) — Tension incoming: The legislation has bipartisan support in the House and Senate, including from Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee chair Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). But some Republican senators are expected to come out strongly against the legislation. And don't forget: The JCPA is a wedge issue pushing social media companies and Microsoft apart. Microsoft president Brad Smith last year testified before Congress in favor of the legislation, bashing rival Google over its control over the news business. NOMINATION VOTES TO COME ANOTHER DAY — Democratic majorities at the FCC and FTC will have to wait a little longer, following the Senate Commerce Committee's decision to pull votes on FCC pick Gigi Sohn and FTC pick Alvaro Bedoya from a slate of markup votes today, as John reported Tuesday. — The big reason: Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) is in the hospital following a stroke (MT wishes the senator a full and speedy recovery), and Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said the panel can't hold votes on nominees that might require party-line votes. With Lujan, the committee is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. — Added time could mean more scrutiny for Sohn: Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the ranking member on the Commerce Committee, has pushed for weeks for another hearing on Sohn to review some of her past media advocacy and roles. But the unexpected delay now has Cantwell warming to the idea, as well as urging more one-on-one meetings between senators and Sohn. "A lot of members didn't meet with Gigi before, even though she had multiple requests in to them," Cantwell told John. "I think now that there's a recusal, they'll hopefully meet with her and we'll see if we can get some bipartisan support." Sohn last week announced her intention to voluntarily and temporarily recuse herself from certain media proceedings as a result of a 2010 petition she signed, which would keep her from weighing in on issues involving the rules that govern how cable and satellite providers pay broadcasters for their content. — Speaking of recusals: USTelecom and NCTA — trade groups representing telecom and cable providers, respectively — sent separate letters to the committee complaining that Sohn's recusal pledge amounted to special treatment for broadcasters. Greg Guice, who directs government affairs for advocacy group Public Knowledge (which Sohn originally co-founded), said Sohn has specifically recused herself from broadcast issues due to her more recent involvement with shuttered TV streaming service Locast. "The other letters are less timely and more sort of a broader sweep on [her] career," he told John. ANOTHER FCC TIDBIT: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Senate appropriators during Tuesday's hearing that the FCC has told her to expect more accurate broadband maps by "probably summer." That's the first time we've heard this timeline, and these maps will dictate when Commerce can dole out its $48 billion infrastructure funds. — Asked about this purported estimate, FCC spokespeople declined to specify. THE AMFA IS GONNA GETCHA: Famed Cuban American singer Gloria Estefan is among those testifying this morning before the House Judiciary Committee in favor of the American Music Fairness Act H.R. 4130 (117) — copyright legislation pitting artists against radio broadcasters, with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. The bipartisan bill was introduced last summer by Reps. Ted Deutch ","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[{"name":"data-person-id","value":"142846","_id":"0000017e-baf4-d31e-abfe-bef629950003","_type":"f601356c-0e4b-3847-a646-21bd958d59ca"}],"url":"https://cd.politicopro.com/member/142846","_id":"0000017e-baf4-d31e-abfe-bef629950004","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017e-b85e-d5e7-a1ff-fadf72c20000","_type":"353fe80b-e1b5-3663-85ca-add066ecafc0"}"> Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and Darrell Issa","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[{"name":"data-person-id","value":"51132","_id":"0000017e-baf4-d31e-abfe-bef629960000","_type":"f601356c-0e4b-3847-a646-21bd958d59ca"}],"url":"https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51132","_id":"0000017e-baf4-d31e-abfe-bef629960001","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017e-b85e-d5e7-a1ff-fadfa6220000","_type":"353fe80b-e1b5-3663-85ca-add066ecafc0"}">Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and counts committee chair Jerry Nadler ","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[{"name":"data-person-id","value":"51541","_id":"0000017e-baf4-d31e-abfe-bef629960002","_type":"f601356c-0e4b-3847-a646-21bd958d59ca"}],"url":"https://cd.politicopro.com/member/51541","_id":"0000017e-baf4-d31e-abfe-bef629960003","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017e-b85f-d5e7-a1ff-fadf452d0000","_type":"353fe80b-e1b5-3663-85ca-add066ecafc0"}"> Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) among its key sponsors. It requires AM and FM radio stations to pay royalties to singers and other performers when they broadcast their work. The U.S. is something of an outlier on this issue — many other countries require their terrestrial broadcasters to pony up royalties to performers — and both satellite radio and streaming services are already required to pay copyright holders when they play their music. The bill largely exempts broadcasters with under $100,000 in revenue. — Leadership tunes in: After years of inaction on the issue, Nadler's decision to hold a hearing on AMFA suggests the committee chair is serious about moving the bill to a markup. In planned remarks shared with MT ahead of today's hearing, the House Judiciary chair will say the current royalties system "deprives U.S. artists of up to $200 million annually" in fees from foreign radio broadcasters alone. "Terrestrial radio is allowed to use, and to profit off of, the creation — the intellectual property — of the artists, for absolutely free," Nadler will say this morning. "I am aware of no other instance in which this is allowed, and it is time for this unfairness to end." INSTAGRAM DATA-WIPING FEATURE DELAYED: Meta's Instagram has missed its deadline to launch a new "digital footprint" feature that would allow users to bulk delete videos, photos, likes and comments. "It's taking a little longer than we planned given some unforeseen technical issues," Stephanie Chan, an Instagram spokesperson, told Rebecca. — Still waiting: The new safety feature was originally supposed to launch for all users in January, according to a Dec. 7 blog post from Instagram head Adam Mosseri. The post outlined three planned safety control features cooked up in the wake of Facebook whistleblower France Haugen's claims that the app is detrimental to the mental health of teens. At the time, Mosseri called the "digital footprint" feature "particularly important." Other new safety features are expected later this spring, per a spokesperson. But Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Rebecca that Instagram's new safety features are "too little too late." "Trust in Big Tech to keep kids safe is long gone," Blumenthal said. "Real, enforceable rules are urgently necessary to hold tech platforms accountable," he said, referencing his effort to draft bipartisan legislation with Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). PICHAI PUSHES BACK — During the company's earnings call on Tuesday, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai spoke out against "unintended consequences" of the big tech antitrust bills moving through Congress. He said Google is "genuinely concerned that they could break a wide range of services we offer to users" and "hurt American competitiveness by disadvantaging solely U.S. companies."
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