Legislators from both sides of the aisle -- Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) -- have teamed up to urge the Federal Trade Commission to investigate over-the-top video clip streaming site TikTok based on reports that suggest the Chinese-based company is not insulated from the Chinese government's demands for data on U.S. users.

Warner and Rubio are the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, the senators cited a BuzzFeed story about leaked internal TikTok meeting data showing U.S. user data had been accessed from China.

Also: FCC's Carr Tells App Stores TikTok Has to Go

They said they wanted her to immediately launch a Sec. 5 investigation, which is an inquiry into potential false and deceptive conduct. That includes that the site offered employees in China "unfettered access to user information, including birthdates, phone numbers, and device identification information."

They told Khan that TikTok had appeared to misrepresent its relationship to its ByteDance parent and subsidiaries, one of which, ByteDance Technology, is partially owned by the Chinese Communist Party, and that updates to TikTok's privacy policy that indicate that the site may be collecting biometric data "heighten their concern." ■

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has asked the Federal Communications Commission to audit Chinese telecommunications companies, saying they are trying to avoid U.S. sanctions over their ties to the Chinese Communist government and the threat that poses to U.S. network security.

In a letter to FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel, Rubio said the Biden administration needed to better enforce its crackdown on suspect tech and "ensure that all recently indicted Chinese firms totally discontinue U.S. services within the required time period; confirm that all Chinese telecommunication companies on the FCC’s “Covered List” – including subsidiaries or reconstituted entities intended to evade U.S. regulations – remain fully blacklisted; and conduct audits or other formal reviews of additional Chinese telecommunications companies that may pose a risk to Americans."

Also: Huawei Says FCC Ban Could Be Unconstitutional

He cited a number of reasons for his concern, including that ZTE, one of the first Chinese telecoms to be dubbed a national security threat — Huawei was the other — incurred further penalties after not adhering to U.S. orders, and Huawei spun off a smartphone line to a different Chinese government-controlled company, adding that “thus far, the Biden administration has not responded to this blatant circumvention of U.S. export controls.”

He also pointed to newer additions to the suspect tech list, including China Telecom, that were already demonstrating an unwillingness to comply with U.S. sanctions.

Back in March, the FCC added AO Kaspersky Lab, China Telecom (Americas) Corp., and China Mobile International USA Inc. to its “covered list” of untrusted tech.

The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act required the FCC to identify tech companies — and their subsidiaries and affiliates — whose products and/or services posed a national security threat. ■

Republican Senators John Kennedy (La.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) have introduced a bill that would deny some Chinese companies access to U.S. capital markets, including some familiar names in the suspect tech category. 

Also Read: FCC Confirms China Telecom Revocation Proceeding

The American Financial Markets Integrity and Security Act would ban what it calls "malign" Chinese companies, which it defines as ones on the Department of Commerce's Entities list or the Defense Department's list of Chinese military companies, the former includes Chinese network tech company Huawei and telecoms China Mobile and China Telecommunications.

Kennedy and Rubio said that while the U.S. government has sanctioned the companies, they are still allowed to "operate in the U.S. capital market system while being involved in the Communist Party’s military, espionage, human rights abuses, 'Military-Civil Fusion Strategy' and the 'Made in China 2025' industrial policy."

Also Read: FCC Flags More China Telecoms

“The Chinese Communist Party shouldn’t find ready investors on U.S. soil," said Kennedy. "This is a national security priority."

Co-sponsors of the bill, all Republicans, include Sens. Mike Braun (Ind.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Rick Scott (Fla.).

Another Republican, Rep. Mike Gallagher (Wis.) has introduced a House version of the bill.

A quartet of Republican senators aren't waiting for the Commerce Department to petition the FCC to get into the issue of rethinking social media's exemption from civil liability over their moderation of third party content. 

That came in a letter to FCC chair Ajit Pai from Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Josh Hawley (Mo.) (pictured above), Kelly Loeffler (Ga.) and Kevin Cramer (N.D.). 

The senators cited President Trump's Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship, which mandates that Commerce's National Telecommunications & Information Administration ask the FCC to come up with a framework for exempting censorship of political speech from that so-called Sec. 230 exemption. 

"It is time to take a fresh look at Section 230 and to interpret the vague standard of 'good faith' with specific guidelines and direction," they said, echoing Trump's order. 

"We therefore request that the FCC clearly define the framework under which technology firms, including social media companies, receive protections under Section 230," they wrote. 

Pai Tuesday (June 9) declined to comment on the FCC's role in that issue, saying he did not think it was appropriate given that the FCC is awaiting the petition for rulemaking. Once that is filed, Pai will almost certainly not comment either since he generally makes it a practice not to comment on issues that are before the commission.

There is bipartisan "deep concern" in the Senate Intelligence Committee that the Trump Administration is using Chinese telecom Huawei as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with the country.

That concern was expressed in a letter to the State Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative from committee vice chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) and member Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), both veteran critics of allowing tech from Huawei and ZTE, another Chinese telecom, into U.S. networks.

Vice President Mike Pence told Fox this week that while he agreed Huawei is a national security threat, he would not say that Huawei's status would be off the table in trade talks.

The senators cited the President's comment in March that Huawei could be included in some kind of trade deal. They said that would set a bad example as the U.S. tries to convince allies of the threat of suspect tech in U.S. networks.

"Allowing the use of Huawei equipment in U.S. telecommunications infrastructure is harmful to our national security," they wrote. "In no way should Huawei be used as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations. Instead, the U.S. should redouble our efforts to present our allies with compelling data on why the long-term network security and maintenance costs on Chinese telecommunications equipment offset any short-term cost savings."

Related: Huawei-Scrubbing 5G Bill Introduced

FCC chair Ajit Pai Thursday (June 13) talked up the need for network security at an address to the U.S.-India Business Council in Washington. "When it comes to 5G, we cannot afford to make risky choices and just hope for the best. We must see clearly the threats to the security of our networks and act to address them," he said.

The FCC has proposed preventing broadband subsidy money to be used by any carrier using technology deemed to a threat to national security.

Reuters is reporting that two of its journalists jailed in Myanmar have been pardoned after more than 500 days behind bars of a seven-year sentence. 

The reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were released as part of a general presidential amnesty. 

At the time of their arrest and then conviction for breaking the Official Secrets Act--Reuters said they had done nothing wrong--the pair were working on a story about the killing of Muslim men and boys by security forces and Buddhist civilians. 

"May their release herald a new era of press freedom in Myanmar, where reporters no longer fear reprisal merely for doing their jobs," said Committee to Protect Journalists Southeast Asia Representative Shawn Crispin.  

Sen. Marco Rubio (D-Fla.), among those who had advocated for their release, was understandably pleased.  

“On the heels of World Press Freedom Day [May 3], I am very happy to see Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo finally walk free out of a Burmese prison," he said. "Both journalists were unjustly jailed for their work reporting the truth about the atrocities against the Rohingya in Burma. Their cases serve as a reminder of the critical role a free press plays in bringing accountability and transparency to governments, and we must do all we can to protect and advance those principles.” 

A bipartisan group of senators has reintroduced a bill, the ZTE Enforcement Review and Oversight (ZERO) Act, that would put congressional muscle behind the conditions on the deal struck by the Trump Administration with Chinese Telecom ZTE that lifted a ban on U.S. exports to the company.

The conditions for lifting the ban included "high level security guarantees, change of management and board, an actual requirement to purchase U.S. parts, and a $1.3 billion fine."

The Commerce Department had instituted the ban citing ZTE noncompliance with an earlier agreement, but after talking with China's president and apparently being concerned about the ban's impact on Chinese jobs, President Trump directed Commerce to find a way to lift the ban, which they did subject to payments and guarantees from ZTE. 

But many members of Congress were concerned about lifting the ban given the agreement by U.S. intelligence officials that ZTE was a security threat due to its ties to the Chinese government. The result was the ZTE Enforcement Review and Oversight (ZERO) Act, which was introduced in the last Congress and is now making a comeback.

The legislators say the bill is meant to ensure that if Commerce can't "regularly certify ZTE’s full compliance with the deal and with relevant U.S. export controls and sanctions laws," the ban's "crippling punishments" will be reimposed. 

Among those leading the effort to keep ZTE in check has been Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). "China’s communist government continues to threaten our national security interests through state-directed actors and, while it was a mistake to strike a ‘deal’ with ZTE in the first place, this bill would ensure ZTE is held accountable if and when it cheats again," Rubio said.

A separate bill has been introduced that would reimpose that ban.

Joining Rubio in reintroducing the bill were Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) (he backs the bill reimposing the ban, so he is hedging his bet), Susan Collins (R-Me.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Doug Jones (D-Ala.).

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says the U.S. got played by China and Chinese telecom ZTE.

"I don't understand why [my colleagues] would give in so easily, so quickly and cave on something that would have put them [ZTE and Chiese telecom Huawei] out of business by denying them access to U.S. semiconductors. It makes no sense to me. But we got played again and this cannot continue to happen."

Related: Sen. Warner Slams GOP for Apparent ZTE 'Cave'

That came after the conference reconciliation of the National Defense Authorization Act failed to include a Senate-passed provision reinstating the ban on U.S. tech imports to ZTE, which the Trump Administration had lifted after striking a deal with ZTE.

Related: Chabot Says Trump ZTE Aid Was Shortsighted

President Trump had directed Commerce to strike that deal after after talking with the President of China, saying he was concerned about the loss of Chinese jobs--ZTE relies on U.S. chips for its smart phones and other tech.

The Senate voted last month (https://www.multichannel.com/news/senate-votes-to-restore-zte-trade-sanctions) to exclude ZTE technology from government contracts, and additionally to restore trade sanctions on the Chinese telecom that President Donald Trump had Commerce lift, citing his meeting with China's president and a potential loss of Chinese jobs.

The House had already passed a version of the bill that disallowed ZTE tech from government contracts but did not restore the trade sanctions, with the two versions then going to conference to resolve the differences, after which the bill must be re-voted.

Related: Rep. Chabot Calls Trump's ZTE Aid Shortsighted

After ZTE allegedly failed to comply with the terms of a settlement over illegally shipping telecom equipment to Iran and North Korea, Commerce banned U.S. companies from exporting their technology to the company for seven years. Not long after, the U.S. also banned the sale of phones from ZTE and Chinese telecom manufacturer Huawei on U.S. military bases.

But after a meeting with China, Trump directed the Commerce department to help ZTE; Commerce then proceeded to strike an agreement with the company that lifted the ban.

A pair of prominent senators from each party have asked President Donald Trump to reinstate the ban on U.S. tech imports to Chinese Telecom ZTE.

The Commerce Department had issued the ban after ZTE failed to keep its end of a settlement over supplying tech to Iran and North Korea, but after talking to the President of China, Trump instructed Commerce to strike a deal to save Chinese jobs.

The senators said the Commerce sanctions—"which would have threatened ZTE’s survival—should not be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with China on unrelated matters."

Related: Senate Votes to Restore ZTE Trade Sanctions

In a letter to the President, Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) urged him to reconsider that deal and back a Senate-passed ban on any government money going to ZTE and Huawei, another Chinese telecom identified as tied to the Chinese government.

“The Senate and the U.S. Intelligence Community are in agreement that ZTE poses a significant threat to our national security. The Senate recently voted 85-10 to reimpose the April sanctions order and the ban on ZTE buying U.S. components, and to prohibit the U.S. federal government from purchasing ZTE or Huawei equipment and contracting with any entity that purchases such equipment," they said. "We urge you to heed the leaders of the U.S. Intelligence Community, supported by a strong bipartisan consensus in the Senate, that we must pursue policies that prevent the widespread use of ZTE products in the U.S.”

They reminded the President of the February Senate Intelligence Committee hearing at which the country's top intelligence officials all said they would not personally use technology from those companies, and that they posed a security risk. 

Related: Manufacturers Push Back on Trump's ZTE Aid

“ZTE, though publicly traded, is a state-backed enterprise that is ultimately loyal not to its shareholders, but to the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese government," the senators said. "This patronage relationship poses unacceptable risks to American sovereignty; risks that will only increase if the company is permitted to establish itself deeply in America’s telecommunications infrastructure.”

After ZTE allegedly failed to comply with the terms of a settlement over illegally shipping telecom equipment to Iran and North Korea, Commerce banned U.S. companies from exporting their technology to the company for seven years. Not long after, the U.S. also banned the sale of phones from ZTE and Chinese telecom manufacturer Huawei on U.S. military bases.

The effort by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) to pass the Mobile Now Act by unanimous consent (UC), or at least to make the senator blocking it own that process, has been postponed.

There is a hold on the bill -- it takes only one senator to place a hold -- and by making the UC request, the member, or at least a member, would have to stand up and object to passage to continue the hold.

Thune had planned to take the floor Wednesday (Sept. 21) and call for that vote, but his office said the request was postponed.

The Mobile Now Act would take numerous steps to boost wireless broadband, including licensed and unlicensed. It passed unanimously out of the Senate Commerce Committee in March loaded with amendments on everything from shot-clocks for approving facilities to dig-once policies for combining road projects and telecom plant, to a contest offering up to $5 million for the first person to come up with a way to boost spectrum efficiency.

The bipartisan bill, which specifically targets the buildout of 5G mobile broadband, was the result of months of negotiations.

“The committee’s advancement of the Mobile Now Act was truly a bipartisan effort,” Thune said following the markup. “Enactment of this legislation will pave the way to a 5G future where Americans have access to ultra-fast, next-generation wireless technology.”

Included in the bill was an amendment backed by, among others, wireless broadband spectrum fan Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) that would ensure at least 100 MHz of the spectrum being freed up would go for unlicensed use and another 100 MHz for commercial mobile service, with a handwritten addition to the amendment saying that commercial use was "subject to the [FCC's] regulatory purview to implement exclusive licensing in a flexible manner, including consideration of continued use of such spectrum by incumbent federal or non-federal entities in designated geographic areas indefinitely."

Among the reasons for the tough negotiations on the bill were the tensions between licensed and unlicensed, as well as commercial and incumbent government users of the spectrum. Ranking member Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said he thought the bill had struck the right balance among those.

Not included in the bill was a last-minute amendment that would have helped broadcasters in the post-incentive auction repack and an FCC process reform bill amendment from Sen. Den Heller.

Also not included was a bill, introduced by a bipartisan group of senators, that would direct the FCC to identify the spectrum requirements for the growing Internet of things (IoT) and study the impacts of connected technologies

Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) called on the FBI to give the public a gander at the evidence it used to conclude no charges should be brought against Hillary Clinton for using her unsecure private e-mail server for State Department communications.

FBI director James Comey too the unusual step of calling a press conference Tuesday (July 5) to announce that its investigation of Clinton resulted in no information that would warrant a criminal indictment by the Justice Department, though he revealed conclusions usually passed on to Justice without public airing.

Just last week President Obama signed FOIA reform legislation drafted that came out of Grassley's committee meant to make government agencies more open, and Grassley appeared ready to test that new presumption of openness.

“While Director Comey made it clear that Secretary Clinton and her staff were ‘extremely careless’ in handling classified information, he also recommended no criminal prosecution even though ‘gross negligence’ regarding classified information is a crime," he said in a statement e-mailed to Multichannel News. "If it wants to avoid giving the impression that the FBI was pulling punches, because many people in a similar situation would face some sort of consequence, the agency must now be more transparent than ever in releasing information gathered during its investigation. Even Director Comey said there should be extraordinary transparency. 

"That means more than simply giving the public a brief summary of his view of the facts," Grassley continued, referring to Comey's announcement, carried by the major news networks Tuesday. "It should include the actual evidence so the public can make an educated decision on its own about the judgment and decision-making of all the senior officials involved. There are plenty of FOIA and congressional requests pending that have been on hold because of the ongoing nature of the investigation, so now the FBI should respond fully and completely to all of them.”

Comey said while Clinton's e-mail handling had been extremely careless, and included some communications she should have known were classified and should have been secured, there was no indictable offense and no evidence of obstruction of justice.

Also weighing in was former presidential candidate and Senate Commerce Committee member Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

"Hillary Clinton's actions have sent the worst message to the millions of hard-working federal employees who hold security clearances and are expected to go to great lengths to secure sensitive government information and abide by the rules," Rubio said. "They don't take their oaths lightly, and we shouldn't expect any less of their leaders. Her actions were grossly negligent, damaged national security and put lives at risk."

Sen Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has withdrawn a couple of amendments to an FCC reauthorization bill being marked up today in the Senate Commerce Committee that would have targeted Administration efforts to loosen communications restrictions on Cuba.

That is according to a copy of the revised amendments list. Also withdrawn was an amendment Cruz co-sponsored that would have reined in the FCC's preemption of state laws limiting municipal broadband buildouts.

A former presidential candidate, Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was faring better. Still in the running at press time, though with modifications, was an amendment he introduced requiring a GAO study of federal spectrum opportunity costs and technology. Rubio has been a big backer of freeing up more spectrum for wireless broadband.

Other amendments biting the dust before the markup included one from Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) that would have required the FCC to review certain media ownership rules, one from Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) that would have provided a small business exemption (fewer than 250,0000 subs) from the enhanced transparency rule in the Open Internet order (a similar waiver has already passed the House.

Among the amendments still slated for consideration at press time were ones requiring 1) a report on the incentive auction repack, 2) that the Inspector General file semiannual reports to both Congress and the FCC, and 3) GAO reports on whether the FCC's regulatory fee structure has an outsized effect on small payers and one on waste and overbuilding in the E-rate program.