Ranking Digital Rights’ Nathalie Maréchal Testifies before Congressional Subcommittee on Regulating Big Tech

Today Nathalie Maréchal, senior policy and partnerships manager at Ranking Digital Rights, a program of New America, will testify before the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection & Commerce on "Holding Big Tech Accountable: Legislation to Build a Safer Internet.”

The hearing is on December 9, 2021 at 11:30 AM ET. Watch the livestream here.

Maréchal is among six leading experts invited to provide input on regulating tech companies, as the U.S. Congress considers a raft of bills aimed at holding tech platforms accountable for the flood of problematic content online. Americans may disagree about how social media companies should govern content on their platforms, but there is strong bipartisan agreement that Big Tech is not above the law, and that whatever companies do, they should be transparent about it, and they should be accountable to their users, their shareholders, and the American people. Legislation should start there, said Maréchal.

Drawing on RDR’s 2020 “It’s the Business Model” reports, which she co-authored, Maréchal’s testimony urges lawmakers to move away from legislative reform aimed at holding platforms liable for their users’ content, and to instead focus on a surveillance-based business model that is fueled by targeted advertising and opaque algorithmic systems.  

“Social media platforms will never be able to rid the internet of problematic speech,” Maréchal said. “Instead of seeking to hold platforms liable for content posted by their users, Congress and advocates should focus on how content is amplified and targeted by regulating the surveillance-based business model.” 

Maréchal will urge Congress to:   

• Regulate the online advertising industry by transposing the basic principles that govern offline advertising to the online world, and pursuing antitrust enforcement in the ad tech sector.
• Create the conditions for evidence-based policymaking by mandating specific types of transparency for information that can safely be made public and by creating mechanisms for qualified, trustworthy, industry-independent researchers to access platform data.
• Encourage the Securities and Exchange Commission to act within its existing regulatory authority to do what shareholders are unable to: Get Big Tech to comply with the same laws as all other public companies and improve corporate governance structures. 

Maréchal’s written testimony is available online.

The hearing is on December 9, 2021 at 11:30 AM ET. Watch the livestream here.

Media contact: comms@rankingdigitalrights.org

About Ranking Digital Rights
Ranking Digital Rights is an independent global research program at New America in Washington, D.C., that ranks leading tech and telecom companies on their publicly disclosed policies and practices affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy. To learn more, please visit us online at www.rankingdigitalrights.org and on Twitter @RankingRights.

About New America
New America is dedicated to renewing the promise of America, bringing us closer to our nation’s highest ideals. We’re a different kind of think tank: one dedicated to public problem solving. Our team of visionary researchers, changemakers, technologists, and storytellers study and seize the opportunities presented by dramatic social and technological change. We search for powerful ideas, wherever they are, and collaborate with civic innovators around the country to develop evidence-based solutions. To learn more, please visit us online at www.newamerica.org or follow us on Twitter @NewAmerica.