In February, Senior Delaware Senator, and close Biden ally, Chris Coons was named Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy and Technology, which has jurisdiction over legal issues pertaining to technology and social media platforms, as well as other legal issues relating to Americans’ privacy and emerging technologies. 

Coons previously served Ranking member of the Subcommittee from 2018-2019. He has also served as an active member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Tech Taskforce. During the previous Congress, he introduced the Algorithmic Fairness Act, a bill to enhance transparency in the use of algorithms by tech companies, and the Facial Recognition Warrant Technology Act, a bill he co-led with Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) that would require federal law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant before using facial recognition technology to engage in ongoing surveillance. He also led a letter with 14 of his colleagues to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the issues of hate speech, violence incitement, and anti-Muslim bias on the platform. 

The Delaware senator has big plans for Silicon Valley. As the new chair and a close friend of the Biden Administration, his action on tech is likely to be influential both across Congress and within the new Administration.

More from Coons’ Office here: https://www.coons.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-coons-to-chair-judiciary-subcommittee-on-privacy-and-technology