Wall Street Journal

Cyber Daily

Hello. Congress is growing impatient with big tech companies for resisting legislative remedies to address social harms from internet platforms, Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Tuesday.

The Minnesota Democrat and her colleagues are beginning to contemplate aggressive legislation, rather than narrow pieces, she said at The Wall Street Journal's Tech Live conference.

Antitrust matters loom, of course, but so do issues of privacy, accountability, transparency and children's safety. Legislative ideas that have been dormant for years amid Congressional sessions mired in feuds are now seeing traction as the public pays attention to what tech companies are doing.

Just as cybersecurity worries bring together Democrats and Republicans, so does the prospect of putting limits on tech firms.

Any such regulation of data privacy, transparency and related areas will affect many other types of companies that also handle a lot of consumer information.

Tech Regulation

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) tells WSJ Tech Live that ambitious legislation may be needed to regulate big technology companies.

Had it up to here: Congress is growing impatient with big technology companies for resisting legislative remedies aimed at addressing social harms from internet platforms, Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Tuesday.

"Every single thing we propose, they are against," Ms. Klobuchar (D., Minn.) said at The Wall Street Journal's Tech Live conference. "The more that time goes on, I'm not the only one that starts wondering if we should not just have the narrow changes" and start aiming for more ambitious legislation, she said.

Tech industry leaders have said they are open to updating outdated laws, but say many of the measures proposed in Congress threaten the viability of the industry.

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