• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, December 20, 2022

This year's must-pass Congressional spending bill, released early Tuesday morning, doesn't include several controversial proposals aimed at regulating large tech companies.

Among the proposed laws not included in the bill is the American Innovation and Choice Online Act -- an antitrust proposal that would have broadly prohibited large platforms from giving preferential treatment to their own products or services.

The largest tech companies, including Google and Amazon, opposed the bill, arguing it would prevent them from displaying information that consumers want.

“If you search for a place or an address, we may not be able to show you directions from Google Maps in your results,” Kent Walker, Google's chief legal officer, said in January blog post.

Supporters of the bill included the Justice Department as well as smaller tech companies including review site Yelp, search engine Duck Duck Go and browser developer Mozilla.

Another antitrust proposal excluded from this year's spending bill is the Open App Markets Act, which would have required app stores with more than 50 million U.S. users to allow people to download apps from outside sources.

Google already allows Android owners to download apps from other sources, but Apple famously doesn't allow iPhone owners to do so.

Some app developers supported the proposed law, as did some consumer advocacy groups.

But critics -- including the libertarian group TechFreedom, digital rights organization Center for Democracy & Technology and the National Coalition Against Censorship -- said language in the bill could have enabled app developers to sue Google and Apple over editorial decisions.

Specifically, the bill would have prohibited app store operators from “unreasonably” preferencing apps of their business partners -- including, apparently, apps that pay Google and Apple commissions on in-app purchases. Critics said that provision could have allowed for lawsuits by developers whose apps appeared far down in the search results to sue -- even if platforms downgraded those apps due to their content.

The critics added that app stores may decide to exclude controversial apps altogether, rather than face the threat of lawsuits over those apps' placement in the search results.

The spending bill also doesn't include the controversial Kids Online Safety Act, which would have required web companies to design their services with the “best interests” of users under 17 in mind, including by taking steps to prevent or mitigate eating disorders, self-harm and substance abuse.

The American Psychological Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Fairplay and dozens of other groups supported the proposed law, arguing in a letter sent to lawmakers last week that it “has the potential to significantly improve young people’s wellbeing by transforming the digital environment for children and teens.”

Opponents, including the libertarian group TechFreedom and digital rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation, argued the bill unconstitutionally restricts content protected by free speech principles -- such as material associated with eating disorders.

The end-of-year bill also excludes the Children's and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, which would have expanded the current children's privacy law by requiring websites and apps to obtain the consent of teens ages 13-15 before collecting data that can be linked to them or their devices -- such as IP addresses and pseudonymous identifiers. The current law requires companies to obtain parental consent before knowingly collecting that data from children under the age of 13.

One of the tech-related proposals included in the spending legislation is the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act, or the INFORM Consumers Act, which aims to combat the online sale of counterfeits by requiring onine marketplaces to verify the identity of large sellers.

The proposed spending package also includes a bill banning Tik-Tok on devices owned by the federal government.