Social Media: Misinformation and Content Moderation Issues for Congress

"Social media platforms disseminate information quickly to billions of global users. The Pew Research Center estimates that in 2019, 72% of U.S. adults used at least one social media site and that the majority of users visited the site at least once a week.

Some Members of Congress are concerned about the spread of misinformation (i.e., incorrect or inaccurate information) on social media platforms and are exploring how it can be addressed by companies that operate social media sites. Other Members are concerned that social media operators’ content moderation practices may suppress speech. Both perspectives have focused on Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. §230), enacted as part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which broadly protects operators of “interactive computer services” from liability for publishing, removing, or restricting access to another’s content.

Social media platforms enable users to create individual profiles, form networks, produce content by posting text, images, or videos, and interact with content by commenting on and sharing it with others. Social media operators may moderate the content posted on their sites by allowing certain posts and not others. They prohibit users from posting content that violates copyright law or solicits illegal activity, and some maintain policies that prohibit objectionable content (e.g., certain sexual or violent content) or content that does not contribute to the community or service that they wish to provide. As private companies, social media operators can determine what content is allowed on their sites, and content moderation decisions could be protected under the First Amendment. However, operators’ content moderation practices have created unease that these companies play an outsized role in determining what speech is allowed on their sites, with some commentators stating that operators are infringing on users’ First Amendment rights by censoring speech..."
Social Media 

FDA Regulation of Medical Devices

"Prior to and since the passage of the Medical Device Amendments of 1976, Congress has debated how best to ensure that consumers have access, as quickly as possible, to new and improved medical devices and, at the same time, prevent devices that are not safe and effective from entering or remaining on the market. Medical device regulation is complex, in part, because of the wide variety of items that are categorized as medical devices; examples range from a simple tongue depressor to a life-sustaining heart valve. The regulation of medical devices can affect their cost, quality, and availability in the health care system..."
Medical devices regulation

Extending Authorities to All Tobacco Products, Including E-Cigarettes, Cigars, and Hookah

"Tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of disease and death in the United States. As part of its goal to improve public health and protect future generations from the risks of tobacco use, the FDA has extended its authority to cover all products that meet the definition of a tobacco product.

Previously, the FDA regulated cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco, but in 2016, the FDA finalized a rule – Deeming Tobacco Products To Be Subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act – which extends the FDA’s authority to include the regulation of electronic nicotine delivery systems (such as e-cigarettes and vape pens), all cigars, hookah (waterpipe) tobacco, pipe tobacco and nicotine gels, among others.

This action is a milestone in consumer protection – going forward, the FDA will be able to:

• Review new tobacco products not yet on the market;
• Help prevent misleading claims by tobacco product manufacturers;
• Evaluate the ingredients of tobacco products and how they are made; and
• Communicate the potential risks of tobacco product..."

Tobacco products

What’s on Television? The Intersection of Communications and Copyright Policies

"In the 1940s and 1950s, watching television meant tuning into one of a few broadcast television stations, with the help of an antenna, to watch a program at a prescheduled time. Over subsequent decades, cable and satellite operators emerged to enable households unable to receive over-the-air signals to watch the retransmitted signals of broadcast television stations. More recently, some viewers have taken to watching TV programming on their computers, tablets, mobile phones, and other Internet-connected devices at times of their own choosing, dispensing with television stations and cable and satellite operators altogether.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Congress, and the courts have overseen this evolution by applying a combination of communications and copyright laws to regulate the distribution of television programming. These laws are intended to achieve three policy goals:
1. protecting the property rights of content owners to encourage the production of television programs;
 2. promoting competition among distributors of video programming; and 3. enabling broadcast television stations to serve the local communities to which they are licensed by the FCC..."
Television

EPA Announces National Enforcement Initiatives for Coming Years

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced its seven National Enforcement Initiatives for fiscal years 2017-2019, which focus on national pollution challenges where EPA’s enforcement efforts will protect public health. For the next cycle starting on October 1, 2016, EPA will retain four of its current National Enforcement Initiatives, add two new initiatives, and expand one to include a new area of focus. The fiscal year 2017-2019 National Enforcement Initiatives are:

1. Keeping Industrial Pollutants Out of the Nation’s Waters (new initiative)
2. Reducing Risks of Accidental Releases at Industrial and Chemical Facilities (new initiative)
3. Cutting Hazardous Air Pollutants (expanded initiative)
4. Reducing Air Pollution from the Largest Sources
5. Ensuring Energy Extraction Activities Comply with Environmental Laws
6. Keeping Raw Sewage and Contaminated Stormwater Out of the Nation’s Waters 
7. Preventing Animal Waste from Contaminating Surface and Ground Water.."

EPA

EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track?

"Since Barack Obama was sworn in as President in 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed and promulgated numerous regulations to implement the pollution control statutes enacted by Congress. Critics have reacted strongly. Many, both within Congress and outside of it, have accused the agency of reaching beyond the authority given it by Congress and ignoring or underestimating the costs and economic impacts of proposed and promulgated rules. The House conducted vigorous oversight of the agency in the 112th and 113th Congresses, and approved several bills that would overturn specific regulations or limit the agency’s authority. Particular attention has been paid to the Clean Air Act, but there has also been congressional scrutiny on other environmental statutes and regulations implemented by EPA. With Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, the 114th Congress has accelerated oversight of the Administration’s initiatives and renewed efforts to rein in EPA..."
EPA

Independence of Federal Financial Regulators

"Conventional wisdom regarding regulators is that the structure and design of the organization

matters for policy outcomes. Financial regulators conduct rulemaking and enforcement to

implement law and supervise financial institutions. These agencies have been given certain

characteristics that enhance their day-to-day independence from the President or Congress, which

may make policymaking more technical and less “political” or “partisan,” for better or worse.

Independence may also make regulators less accountable to elected officials and can reduce

congressional influence, at least in the short term.."Federal Financial Regulators

Wisconsin Hunting Regulations

Find the current hunting regulations for Wisconsin including: Deer, Bear, Migratory game birds, Small game and turkey, and Wolf harvest. Available in: English, Hmong,and Spanish.
Wisconsin Hunting Regulations

U.S. Regulatory Authority over Payment, Clearing and Settlment Systems
Chart displaying the regulatory authority of the Federal Reserve Sytem

EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track?
"In the two years since Barack Obama was sworn in as President, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed and promulgated numerous regulations implementing the pollution control statutes enacted by Congress. Critics have reacted strongly. Many, both within Congress and outside of it, have accused the agency of reaching beyond the authority given it by Congress and ignoring or underestimating the costs and economic impacts of proposed and promulgated
rules. Republican leaders have promised vigorous oversight of the agency in the 112th Congress, and the House has already voted to overturn specific regulations and to limit the agency’s authority. Particular attention is being paid to the Clean Air Act, under which EPA has moved forward with the first federal controls on emissions of greenhouse gases and addressed conventional pollutants from a number of industries...

This report provides background information on recent EPA rulemaking to help address these issues. It examines 43 major or controversial regulatory actions taken by or under development at EPA since January 2009, providing details on the regulatory action itself, presenting an estimated timeline for completion of the rule (including identification of related court or statutory deadlines), and, in general, providing EPA’s estimates of costs and benefits, where available..."

The Information Needs of Communities:the Changing Media Landscape in an Broadband Age.
"...This report looks not only at the changing face of media, but at the relevant policy and regulatory situation, including the FCC’s own track record. Our basic conclusion: with the media landscape shifting as fast as it has been, some current regulations are out of sync with the information needs of communities and the fluid nature of modern local media markets..."

A Simpler, Smarter Regulatory System
"The President outlined his plan to create a 21st-century regulatory system, calling for an unprecedented government-wide review to eliminate tens of millions of hours in annual red-tape, and billions of dollars in regulatory costs while protecting the health and safety of the American people."

EPA Launches Website to Increase Transparency of Regulatory Activity
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a new website called Reg Stat that will enhance public understanding of its regulatory process and the number, type, and range of regulatory documents developed each year by the agency. This new resource is part of the EPA’s continuing efforts to enhance the accessibility and transparency of its regulatory activities.

Reg Stat provides information on EPA documents published in the Federal Register between 2005 and 2009. It also provides in-depth information on rulemakings likely to be of most interest to stakeholders -- those rules signed by the EPA administrator that substantively amend the Code of Federal Regulations. Users will be able to determine the number of rules signed by the administrator, how long it took to develop each rule, whether a rule underwent Executive Order 12866 regulatory review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the length of OMB review. Both summary graphics and searchable data tables are available..."