Recent legislative efforts related to technology and social media technology companies suggest that Congress currently recognizes: 1) the government would benefit from greater institutional capacity to address digital information and technology issues 2) the legislative branch and the public would benefit from a stronger understanding of global disinformation and digital information influence operations and 3) all three branches of the U.S. government could benefit from more technical expertise to better understand the problems emanating from the technology sector, particularly regarding social media technology companies and their impact on individuals and society.
The Domestic Institutional Perspective From the domestic institutional perspective, recent crises highlighted weaknesses in the Executive and Legislative branches to adopt technology infrastructure, rules, and processes to fully function during a crisis. In Congress, communication technologies and changes to House and Senate rules played a critical role in how Congress operated during recent crises. Initially, Congress was caught off guard by the pandemic’s effects on the legislative process and its inability to hold business meetings, hearings, or vote remotely. However, Congress quickly adapted and adopted new tools and developed new organizations to help it continue to fulfill its Constitutional obligations. It has not yet developed an adequate plan for the next time a crisis incapacitates the U.S. Congress and forces it to work remotely, or if, for example, a nuclear or some other attack were to wipe out the majority of the members of Congress. For a variety of reasons (including Constitutional) we currently do not have the technology or procedural mechanisms in place to allow Congress to convene remotely in the face of a serious emergency or attack on the Capitol. Considering the events of January 6, 2021, this planning failure could prove to be an unnecessary weakness. Additionally, for a variety of jurisdictional and other reasons, Congress is not currently equipped to conduct adequate oversight of the increasingly complex technology sector, as technology harms and failures across various industries demonstrate.
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Crisis and Congress: Technology, Information, and the Future of Governance
