On Wednesday, the CEO of Coinbase Brian Armstrong announced that the company will begin showing users on its app “crypto sentiment scores” for members of Congress, rating lawmakers on how “negative” or “positive” they have been toward cryptocurrency.
1/ Starting today, Coinbase will begin integrating our crypto policy efforts directly into our app. These will help our 103 million verified users educate themselves about the crypto positions held by the political leaders where they live. pic.twitter.com/3GqWZIioZQ
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) September 14, 2022
Armstrong said the ratings were based in part on a scorecard created by the Coinbase-backed Crypto Action Network, an advocacy group that recently issued grades to policymakers based on the positivity or negativity of their statements, policies and votes on the issue.
Two of the most outspoken cryptocurrency skeptics in Congress, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) opposed the lobbying campaign.
“The only two Fs I’ve ever been proud to get: one of [National Rifle Association] and now one from Coinbase,” Sherman, who has called for the outlawing of cryptocurrency, told The Technology 202. “Just another example of the crypto industry getting into politics to stay as lightly regulated and to protect their billions in profits.”
“Getting an F grade from the crypto lobby group is a badge of honor,” said Warren, who has called for tougher rules to protect consumers against cryptocurrencies. Warren said getting a “positive” crypto score shouldn’t mean “wanting to defend a system in which people are being cheated out of their money … or a system in which insiders collect all the profits and give them to leave all the losses to individuals who don’t do that” I don’t have big money to play with.”
The Crypto Action Network gave top A grades to Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (DN.Y.), Cynthia M. Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), among others. Gillibrand and Lummis introduced a proposal that strengthens the industry’s favorite regulator, and Wyden has pushed back on calls for heavy regulation. Warren and Sherman received the only F grades.
According to Coinbase, “The Crypto Sentiment Score is compiled using publicly available data, including legislative data, media statements, social media posts, group membership, and public letters.” The company did not offer comment on the lawmakers’ remarks.
Coinbase’s move in particular marks a much more direct approach to trying to influence voters and lawmakers than much of the tech sector has taken in recent years.
Big tech companies have increasingly shied away from public lobbying campaigns, relying on trade association networks and armies of lobbyists to pound Washington.
They rarely endorse specific legislative proposals, and their political campaign donations tend to be split evenly between moderates in both parties and mainstream PACs. Some prominent companies, including Apple and Twitter, famously shut down their PACs, while others have sometimes stopped donations due to political developments, including the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
While many advocacy groups rate lawmakers on how well their policies are aligned, it’s extremely rare for a company to rate them publicly, including in the tech sector.
The move signals an aggressive lobbying stance by the crypto community. Armstrong said the company eventually plans to “help pro-crypto candidates solicit donations [in crypto] from the crypto community.”
While some of its lobbying tactics seem unusual, the crypto industry has also increasingly invested in the same playbook as many of its Silicon Valley peers — starting trade associations to push its favored policies and hiring lobbyists to boot on Capitol Hill.
Despite the increase in spending, crypto lobbying is still weak from industry giants.
Like my colleague Tory Newmyer reported, “The industry spent $8.9 million on lobbying during the first half of this year, surpassing the $7.7 million it spent all of last year, according to a new analysis from the Center for Responsive Politics.”
By comparison, Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook’s parent company Meta have spent almost $95 million on lobbying since 2021 as they face regulatory threats in Congress. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
White House announces tech companies’ efforts to fight violent extremism
Social media services including Facebook parent Meta, Microsoft, Twitch and YouTube announced new initiatives to limit the spread of hate speech as the White House convened a summit on hate-fueled violence. Zakrzewski the cat reports. It comes after pressure on companies following mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Tex., where the attackers posted violent rhetoric online.
“YouTube will update its policies to remove videos that glorify acts intended to inspire others or raise funds, even when the creators are not affiliated with terrorist groups,” writes Cat. “Twitch, an Amazon-owned streaming service, will soon roll out new tools to help its creators improve security and limit harassment on their channels. And Microsoft will launch online safety education for students and families within its popular Minecraft game.
The FTC says it will look into the practices of concert companies
In a policy statement, the Federal Trade Commission said gig companies must be honest with potential workers about costs and benefits, must keep their promises to gig workers and cannot have illegal contracts with workers. . The FTC also said it would investigate “evidence of agreements between gig companies to unlawfully fix wages, benefits or fees for gig workers that should be open to competition” and “exclusionary or predatory conduct that may cause harm to customers or reduced or poorer compensation. working conditions for gig workers.”
The statement passed 3-2 with the support of all three Democrats on the committee.
“Regardless of how gig companies choose to classify them, gig workers are entitled to protection under the laws we enforce,” Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Samuel Levine said in a statement. “We are fully committed to coordinating our consumer protection and competition enforcement efforts within the FTC, as well as working with other agencies across the government to ensure that gig workers are treated fairly.”
California governor signs law aimed at protecting children online
California’s Age-Friendly Design Code law requires tech platforms to assess whether their new products could harm children before releasing them, and to provide privacy guards by default for their older users. Young. The bill, which California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed Thursday, overwhelmingly passed the California State Senate and Assembly.
The law could increase pressure on lawmakers in Washington to act on legislation that focuses on privacy and children.
It came under fire from tech trade groups, which lobbied against the bill and argued it would stifle innovation and violate free speech protections while not adequately protecting families. In a statement Thursday, Newsom’s office said the bill “strikes a balance that protects children and ensures that technology companies will have clear rules of the road that will allow them to continue to innovate.”
TikTok unveiled TikTok Now, a new feature that lets users post daily photos or videos at spontaneous times, Bloomberg News’ Sabiq Shahidullah reports. It is similar to the social media app BeReal. journalism Scribner herb:
Editor and reporter Aoife Barry:
Writer Amanda Silberling:
Customs officials copied Americans’ phone records on a massive scale (Drew Harwell)
Uber suffers a computer system breach, warns authorities (Faiz Siddiqui and Joseph Menn)
Adobe shares fall on deal to buy design platform Figma for $20 billion (CNBC)
Instagram trails TikTok and YouTube in creator satisfaction, Mosseri tells staff (The Information)
Rumble is ready for a $2 billion SPAC (The Verge)
Meta Oversight Board Opposes Removal of Newspaper’s Positive Report on Taliban (Reuters)
Her father’s murder caused a stir. Now she is creating content for it. (Input Mag)
- Bruce Miller joined the BSA | Software Alliance as its senior director of legislative strategy. Miller previously worked as Kyndryl’s director of federal legislative affairs.
- A House Oversight and Reform Committee panel holds a hearing on federal IT today at 9 a.m.
- Rep. Michael R. Turner (Ohio), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, speaks at a Heritage Foundation event on countering foreign disinformation and disinformation while protecting civil liberties Monday at 1 p.m.
- Dear Tudorachea member of the European Parliament who is co-rapporteur of the EU AI Act, speaks at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on Monday at 3:30 p.m.
- A panel of the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on antitrust enforcement Tuesday at 3 p.m.
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