Crypto skeptics reject the industry’s public lobbying

On Wednesday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced that the company would begin showing users in its app “crypto sentiment scores” for members of Congress, rating lawmakers on how “negative” or “positive” they have been toward cryptocurrency.

Armstrong so the ratings were based in part on a scorecard created by the Coinbase-backed Crypto Action Network, an advocacy group that recently released grades for policymakers based on the positivity or negativity of their statements, policies and votes on the issue.

Two of Congress’s most outspoken cryptocurrency skeptics, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), dismissed the lobbying campaign.

“The only two Fs I’ve ever been proud to receive: one from [National Rifle Association] and now one from Coinbase,” Sherman, who has called for a ban on cryptocurrency, told The Technology 202. “Just another example of the crypto industry wading into politics to stay as lightly regulated as possible and protect their billions in profits .”

“Receiving an F grade from the crypto lobby group is a badge of honor,” said Warren, who has called for stricter consumer protection regulations against cryptocurrency. Warren said that receiving a “positive” crypto score should not mean “wanting to protect a system where people are being cheated out of their money … or a system where insiders collect all the profits and leave all the losses to individuals who do that” not the big money to play.”

The Crypto Action Network gave its highest 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 preferred 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 Rating was compiled using publicly available data, including legal documents, media statements, social media posts, caucus membership and public letters.” The company did not comment on the lawmakers’ comments.

Coinbase’s move, in particular, marks a far 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 overtly public lobbying campaigns, relying instead on networks of industry associations and armies of lobbyists to blitz Washington.

They rarely support specific bills, and their political campaign donations tend to be evenly split between moderates in both parties and large PACs. Some prominent companies, including Apple and Twitter, famously shut down their PACs, while others have at times halted donations due to political developments, including the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.

While many advocacy groups rate lawmakers on how well their policies align, it’s extremely rare for a company to publicly rate them, including in the tech sector.

The move signals aggressive lobbying 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 the lobbying tactics seem unusual, the crypto industry has also increasingly invested in the same playbook as many of its Silicon Valley counterparts — starting trade associations to push for its preferred policies and hiring lobbyists to launch on Capitol Hill.

Despite an increase in spending, crypto lobbying remains overshadowed by industry giants.

Like my colleague Tory Newmyer reported, “The industry paid out $8.9 million on lobbying through the first half of this year, surpassing the $7.7 million it spent all of last year, according to a new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.”

By comparison, Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook’s parent company Meta have spent nearly $95 million on lobbying since 2021 as they face regulatory threats in Congress. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

The White House announces efforts by tech companies to counter violent extremism

Social media services including Facebook parent Meta, Microsoft, Twitch and YouTube announced new initiatives to limit the spread of hateful rhetoric as the White House convened a summit on hate-fueled violence, Cat Zakrzewski reports. It comes after pressure on the companies in the wake of the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Tex., where shooters posted violent rhetoric online.

“YouTube will update its policies to remove videos that glorify acts intended to inspire others or raise money, even when the creators have no links to terrorist groups,” writes Cat. “Twitch, an Amazon-owned streaming service, will soon launch new tools to help creators improve security and limit harassment on their channels. And Microsoft will launch online safety training for students and families in the popular game Minecraft.”

The FTC says it will scrutinize gaming companies’ practices

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 concert companies to unlawfully fix wages, benefits or fees for concert workers that should be open to competition” and “exclusionary or predatory practices that could cause injury to customers or reduced compensation or worse working conditions for concert workers .”

The statement passed 3-2 with support from all three of the commission’s Democrats.

“Regardless of how concert companies choose to classify them, concert workers are consumers entitled to protection under the laws we enforce,” FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director 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’s governor signs law aimed at protecting children online

The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act requires tech platforms to assess whether their new products could harm children before releasing them, and offer privacy guardrails as standard to their younger users. The bill, which California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed Thursday, overwhelmingly passed the California Senate and State Assembly.

The law could increase pressure on Washington lawmakers to act on legislation that focuses on privacy and children.

It came under fire from tech trade groups, which lobbied against the bill, arguing it would stifle innovation and infringe on free speech while failing to adequately protect 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 allows users to post daily photos or videos at spontaneous times, reports Sabiq Shahidullah of Bloomberg News. It is similar to the social media app BeReal. Journalist Herb Scribner:

Editor and reporter Aoife Barry:

Author Amanda Silberling:

Customs has copied Americans’ phone data on a massive scale (Drew Harwell)

Uber suffers from computer system breach, authorities warn (Faiz Siddiqui and Joseph Menn)

Adobe shares plunge on deal to buy design platform Figma for $20 billion (CNBC)

Instagram follows TikTok and YouTube in terms of creator satisfaction, Mosseri tells employees (The Information)

Rumble is set for a $2 billion SPAC (The Verge)

Meta Oversight Board objects to removal of positive newspaper report on Taliban (Reuters)

The murder of her father made headlines. Now she creates content about it. (Input Mag)

• Bruce Miller joined BSA | Software Alliance as Senior Director of Legislative Strategy. Miller previously worked as Kyndryl’s director of federal legislative affairs.

• An Oversight and Reform Committee panel is holding a hearing on federal IT today at 9.00 am
• Rep. Michael R. Turner (Ohio), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, will speak at a Heritage Foundation event on countering foreign misinformation and disinformation while protecting civil liberties Monday at 1 p.m.
• Dragos Tudorachea member of the European Parliament who is co-rapporteur for the EU AI Act will speak at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on Monday at 3:30 p.m.
• A panel of the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on antitrust enforcement Tuesday at 3 p.m

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