Tech giants join the anti-virus resistance Presented by CTIA

With help from John Hendel and Leah Nylen

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Quick Fix

— What tech is doing: Leading tech companies like Facebook and Google are putting their money, manpower and data-crunching prowess into fighting the pandemic — and winning rare praise from Washington.

— What telecom is doing: Under pressure from Washington, internet carriers and providers are removing barriers (like data caps and fees) that would make it harder for Americans to telework or use services like telemedicine and online schooling.

— Coronavirus and competition: The virus is changing up how agencies handle antitrust work and driving the FTC and DOJ to cancel events or hold them online.

A message from CTIA: With multiple nationwide 5G networks available today, America is at the forefront of the emerging 5G Economy. Now Boston Consulting Group has identified the keys to unlocking 5G’s potential to reinvent the way we live and work, including more licensed spectrum and a pro-business regulatory framework. Learn more at www.ctia.org.

IT’S MONDAY; WELCOME BACK TO MORNING TECH. I’m your host, Alexandra Levine, in the same boat as many of you who will be working remotely for the foreseeable future. Stay safe, vigilant and informed. And if you’re seeing, hearing or thinking of anything that should be on my — or the tech world’s — radar, please don’t hesitate to reach out; contact info below.

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Tech of the Town

TECH HEAVYWEIGHTS RAMP UP CORONAVIRUS FIGHT — Silicon Valley gets a lot of grief in Washington for its wealth and power, not to mention its dominant role in what Americans see and read and the wealth of data it possesses on billions of people. But now the companies are putting some of their heft into global efforts to fight COVID-19:

— Apple announced Saturday that it is tightening rules for coronavirus-related apps in its App Store, a move aimed at ensuring that “sources are reputable and that developers presenting these apps are from recognized entities such as government organizations, health-focused NGOs, companies deeply credentialed in health issues, and medical or educational institutions.” It added, “Entertainment or game apps with COVID-19 as their theme will not be allowed.” (Apple also closed a majority of its brick-and-mortar stores for two weeks.)

— Facebook came out as a leading supporter of the United Nations Foundation and World Health Organization’s new COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledging Friday to match $20 million in donations to support relief efforts.

— Google launched its own campaign to raise $7.5 million for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. “We’re proud to support your work by matching up to $5M in donations to the new emergency fund, in addition to $5M in ads grants to promote accurate & helpful content about the disease,” CEO Sundar Pichai said Friday.

The search giant also received public praise from President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for work by its life-sciences affiliate, Verily, to create a coronavirus-screening website expected to debut today for the San Francisco Bay area. But that effort also inspired confusion — and some mockery — after it turned out to be a much more modest effort than the nationwide initiative Trump promoted in the Rose Garden on Friday. (Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner had a lot to do with the project getting such a huge shoutout, NYT and WaPo reported.)

And Google later announced plans for a separate nationwide website that is expected to contain information and resources about the virus for individuals, educators and businesses — but that would not screen people or point them to testing locations.

— Grubhub began a relief effort to help restaurants and delivery workers affected by the virus, in collaboration with the mayors of New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and Portland. The food-delivery company (which also owns Seamless) suspended up to $100 million in commission fees owed by independent restaurants that use the platform, and Grubhub’s “Donate the Change” program — which allows customers to round-up their payments at checkout and donate the change to charity — now has a fund set up to send proceeds to those restaurants and drivers.

— Amazon, responding to criticism from Sen. Bernie Sanders, reiterated that workers at its subsidiary Whole Foods “have access to the 2-weeks paid time off related to COVID-19 that was announced for all Amazon employees.”

— Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian bought a billboard in Times Square urging people to #FlattenTheCurve and plugging the mantra, “Staying home means saving lives,” Forbes reports.

CONNECTIVITY IN THE TIME OF COVID — People are hunkering down at home as workplaces, schools and government agencies move more of their operations online — but will our communications networks keep up, especially in communities on the wrong side of the digital divide?

— “I’m glad to see certain companies … putting a pause on restrictive caps, fees and other policies that could interfere with online access during this critical time,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), a former wireless exec, said Saturday. “I’m also pleased to see companies committing to expanding broadband access for students who may not have it so that their educations are not completely disrupted during school closures.”

— Heavyweight providers like AT&T, Comcast and Charter pledged to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai at the end of last week not to cut off service anytime soon for those caught up in the pandemic, as John reported on Friday for Pros. Some like AT&T and Comcast are lifting data restrictions, too.

— And so far, providers aren’t reporting any strain on their wireless and home broadband infrastructure. “Our network is currently fully operational and functioning at 100% reliability,” T-Mobile wrote, adding in a separate announcement that it’s expanding capacity by tapping the 600 MHz airwaves via multiple other companies (the FCC on Sunday announced it’s granted a temporary 60-day approval for this measure). Verizon, although it suggested its networks are fine, did announce it’s closing several of its retail stores temporarily.

— Some want the commission to do more to boost connectivity everywhere. “The FCC needs to step up and help address this #homeworkgap with wifi hotspots for loan in schools,” Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted over the weekend, tallying off school closures. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) wrote to Trump seeking $1 billion of federal emergency cash to purchase such hotspots. House E&C Republicans Greg Walden (Ore.) and Bob Latta (Ohio) are eyeing congressional actions: “We hope to continue this momentum to expand broadband access as Congress takes emergency measures to combat COVID-19.”

— The FCC did act on telehealth: Commissioners unanimously approved an order on Friday to boost the funding for its Rural Health Care program services.

Sign up for POLITICO Nightly: Coronavirus Special Edition, your daily update on how the illness is affecting politics, markets, public health and more.

TECH QUOTE DU JOUR: WHO STILL HAS TO GO INTO WORK? — In a memo acknowledging Charter’s 95,000 employees across 41 states, chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge asked workers to continue reporting to their usual locations (except those who are sick or caring for the sick), stressing that their jobs will be done more efficiently from the office.

“You may have heard that some companies are instituting broad remote working policies for some of their employees. ... Charter is not doing the same today,” Rutledge said. He continued: “You provide and service important broadband connectivity, video, telephone, mobile services, local news and advertising for our customers, and those jobs cannot be performed effectively from home.”

ANTITRUST IN THE TIME OF COVID — Most businesses and federal government agencies have sent workers home to telework, but merger reviews and investigations are still underway at the FTC and DOJ, with some slight twists.

— Merger reviews temporarily suspended: The agencies won’t accept any new mergers for antitrust review today as the FTC and DOJ prepare to go online-only. Starting Tuesday, the agency will no longer accept hard copy submissions of filings but move to a temporary e-filing system for merger reviews.

— Vertical workshop canceled: The FTC canceled this week's public workshop on proposed guidelines for vertical mergers (the Justice Department held the first last week). No word yet on whether the agency will reschedule.

— Virtual events: While most conferences have been canceled, some public appearances by senior officials are still taking place via webcast. Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Makan Delrahim will speak today on antitrust issues in intellectual property at an event-turned-webinar hosted by IPWatchdog. House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline was set to host a roundtable discussion Tuesday in Providence, R.I., on the state of competition in the digital marketplace; that discussion will now be virtual.

CORONAVIRUS CANCELLATIONS, CONTINUED — The list is still dominoing. In addition to the FTC’s move, the Competitive Carriers Association called off its 2020 Mobile Carriers Show, and the Center for Democracy & Technology canceled its annual Tech Prom.

A message from CTIA: Over the past 10 years 4G powered our economy, driving 10% of all U.S. GDP growth, supporting 20 million jobs and saving consumers $130 billion each year. Over the next 10 years, the 5G Economy will drive a new, transformative wave of wireless innovation, powering new levels of economic development and job growth. Drawing on an in-depth analysis of how America led the 4G economy, Boston Consulting Group has identified the five key factors that policymakers should focus on in order to build the new 5G Economy including spectrum availability, network investment, a robust innovation ecosystem, a pro-investment business climate and workforce development. Focusing on these areas will drive 5G market penetration and secure America’s position as the world’s innovation hub. Learn more at www.ctia.org.

Transitions

Berin Szóka is stepping down as president of the think tank TechFreedom after tweeting last week that it would be “poetic justice” for Trump to die from the coronavirus. … Alexandra N. Veitch, who previously led North American government relations at Tesla, starts today at Google, where she’ll lead policy for the Americas at YouTube. … Dianne VanBeber resigns as vice president and spokesperson for satellite provider Intelsat. … Pai appointed working group members for the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Task Force.

And some notable board departures: Bill Gates stepped down from Microsoft’s board of directors “to dedicate more time to his philanthropic priorities,” the company said Friday. … Ken Chenault, chairman and managing director at General Catalyst, is stepping down from Facebook’s board of directors “because I have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work more closely with my friend Warren Buffett,” he said. But WSJ reported Chenault left over disagreements with Zuckerberg.

Silicon Valley Must Reads

Headline OTD: “When Facebook Is More Trustworthy Than the President,” via NYT.

ICYMI: Hackers are setting up fake websites and sending out fake emails under the guise of the CDC, World Health Organization and other authorities to exploit coronavirus fears and gain access to individuals’ data and accounts, POLITICO Europe reports.

Pandemic poses privacy problems: “Iran Launched an App That Claimed to Diagnose Coronavirus. Instead, It Collected Location Data on Millions of People,” via VICE News.

On the other hand: “Donate data to health authorities to fight virus, says German epidemiologist,” POLITICO Europe reports.

Food for thought: “Food Delivery’s Big Coronavirus Test: Can It Deliver?” via WSJ.

The view from Italy: Still under lockdown, the country’s social and family life has gone online, Reuters reports.

Tech for good: “Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma has pledged to donate two million protective masks for distribution across Europe,” Reuters reports.

Quick Downloads

China’s next hurdle: The Justice Department is investigating the Chinese telecom giant ZTE for possible bribery of foreign officials, WSJ reports.

TikTok’s moderation move: TikTok, in a “decision aimed at easing concerns about [the] app’s Chinese ownership,” announced it would stop using China-based moderators to monitor content overseas, WSJ reports.

And here’s what else members of Congress are saying about tech and coronavirus:

On misinformation: Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) wrote a letter asking Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey what the companies are doing to fight coronavirus “misinformation and downright lies propagated on your platforms.”

On deceptive ads: House Energy and Commerce leaders called on FTC Chairman Joseph Simons to take action to thwart deceptive ads and misinformation related to the pandemic.

On connectivity: Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) led a dozen House E&C lawmakers calling on telecom providers to swiftly address broadband barriers.

Tips, comments, suggestions? Send them along via email to our team: Bob King ([email protected], @bkingdc), Nancy Scola ([email protected], @nancyscola), Steven Overly ([email protected], @stevenoverly), John Hendel ([email protected], @JohnHendel), Cristiano Lima ([email protected], @viaCristiano), Alexandra S. Levine ([email protected], @Ali_Lev), and Leah Nylen ([email protected], @leah_nylen).

TTYL.

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