Lawmakers Want Biden to Play Bigger Role Pushing Tech Legislation

But these and other proposals face potentially fierce opposition from big technology companies, as well as partisan differences between Republicans and Democrats. While members of both parties are critical of Big Tech, Democrats often have favored tighter restrictions—for example, on harmful content—while Republicans typically have advocated lighter-touch approaches, and have opposed measures that could restrict speech.

Adding to the pressure in 2022 is the prospect that Republicans could take control of either the House or Senate after the November midterm elections, scrambling policy priorities. That effectively gives Democratic proponents just a few months to push through their measures, many of which are still being drafted.

“The key is whether Biden personally gets involved and prioritizes passage,” said Cowen Washington Research Group, referring to legislation that would bar big tech companies from giving preference to their own products and services on their platforms. The investment analysis firm gives the bill a 65% chance of passing with Mr. Biden’s involvement, and 40% without.

The White House has largely stayed out of the debate over technology legislation this year, focusing instead on measures including the $1 trillion infrastructure spending plan and the roughly $2 trillion education, healthcare and climate proposal it has dubbed Build Back Better.

In a statement, a senior administration official noted that Mr. Biden has long supported measures including revising Section 230, the law that largely shields internet platforms from liability for user content on their sites. Mr. Biden also has asked the Federal Trade Commission to “address unfair data collection and surveillance practices” by big tech companies, the official said.

“President Biden has long said the tech platforms must be held accountable for the harms that they cause and has been a strong supporter of fundamental reforms to achieve that goal,“ the official said. ”Privacy and antitrust reforms, as well as more transparency, should also all be on the table as we address the large platforms’ business models and the incentives they create to promote sensational and divisive content.”

The statement didn’t address what Mr. Biden would do to advance legislation targeting tech company practices amid growing calls from lawmakers for the White House to put its weight behind the tech-focused legislation.

“So far the White House has not been a really active presence,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), who leads the Senate consumer protection subcommittee, said.

“There’s a real win here for the president if he seizes this moment along with us,” said Mr. Blumenthal, who is crafting legislative measures to improve online privacy and protections for children.

Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.), the Senate’s No. 2-ranking Republican, has joined in the efforts to rein in Big Tech, sponsoring legislation that would require platforms to disclose the algorithms they use to rank searches, and give consumers an option for unfiltered searches.

“The White House has proven that it can get involved in legislative priorities when it wants to, so I hope the president and his team step up and provide some much-needed and long-overdue leadership on this front,” Mr. Thune said in a statement.

Lawmakers say momentum for change was given a boost by disclosures of internal research that showed ill effects to users of the Instagram and Facebook platforms owned by Meta Platforms Inc. The documents were gathered by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen and reported by The Wall Street Journal in its “Facebook Files” series.

“How many more whistleblower stories do we have to be greeted with?” said Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.). “This is an area where I think them [the White House] getting more engaged would be really helpful in terms of getting stuff done.”

Meta Platforms has said that many of the research documents released by Ms. Haugen have been misinterpreted and that the company has “invested heavily in people and technology to keep our platform safe.”

Big tech companies generally say they operate in intensely competitive markets, seek to give consumers meaningful choices in how their information is handled, and work hard to keep their platforms safe for users, including children.

Tech companies have also been reminding policy makers of their increasingly important role in the economy. Amazon.com Inc., for example, has touted its massive investments in new infrastructure and hiring last year, and its impacts on revitalizing cities and providing employment.

As it weighs what to do, the White House faces internal tension between progressives in the administration who favor stronger regulation and others concerned about the possible impact of a tech crackdown on the economy and the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly since the Omicron variant emerged as a threat, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Mr. Biden himself underscored Big Tech’s importance at a Dec. 21 press conference, saying the administration has worked with Alphabet Inc.’s Google so consumers can search for Covid-19 testing sites near them with greater accuracy.

Silicon Valley has fended off most unfriendly legislation in Congress in recent years, despite growing bipartisan unhappiness with many aspects of the internet ecosystem and its impact on consumers, especially children.

But tech representatives concede privately that new battles are coming fast in the new year.

The first adversarial bill to move will likely be a measure that is perhaps the No. 1 concern for many of the tech giants, a bill designed to prevent companies from giving preference to their own products and services on their platforms.

Sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), it has broad support among leaders of the Judiciary Committee. It is likely to be passed by the committee in the first few months of 2022, according to lawmakers and tech representatives alike.

But its prospects beyond that are uncertain. Tech lobbyists trying to block it argue that it could have unintended consequences, wrecking their businesses and disrupting the internet economy.

The key to its final passage by the Senate and House could lie in amassing enough support for other tech-regulation measures to prove to congressional leaders that it is worth scarce floor time, Ms. Klobuchar said.

“We know what we’re up against,” she said, referring to the lobbying fights to come. “Not everything will pass…But we have to start moving.”

Mr. Biden making it a priority would help, she added.

Senators on the Commerce Committee, meanwhile, are working on bills strengthening consumer privacy, children’s online safety, platform accountability, algorithm transparency and other issues. But the list is so long that some tech representatives and congressional aides believe lawmakers risk getting bogged down, particularly with just a few months to act.

Still, action appears to remain possible, particularly on narrower issues, for example targeted efforts to protect children from online exploitation or limited transparency measures.

“We’re at a watershed moment,“ said James Steyer, founder of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that seeks to improve children’s online experiences. ”We’d better seize the moment.”

—Ryan Tracy contributed to this article.

Write to John D. McKinnon at [email protected]