The FACT Act is a no-brainer for national security and consumer sovereignty
Kudos to Congress for a bi-partisan proposal for transparent information to keep Americans safe. U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency (FACT) Act and was joined by Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and John Cornyn (R-Texas). The House companion bill is lead by U.S. Representatives Thomas Kean (NJ-07), Rob Wittman (VA-01), Kathy Castor (FL-14), and Ro Khanna (CA-17).
The legislation would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to publicly identify entities that hold FCC licenses, authorizations, or other grants of authority that are owned, wholly or partially, by foreign adversarial governments. This includes the governments of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
Until now, there has been no mandated public disclosure of companies linked to foreign adversaries operating within U.S. technology and telecommunication markets. Although the FCC is prohibited from granting licenses or authorizations deemed a national security threat, some entities with ties to adversarial foreign governments continue to hold certain approvals. Such products are sold on Amazon, BestBuy and other outlets with no disclosures.
More transparency is necessary. Indeed after China’s Huawei was restricted by US authorities in 2018 for its actions contrary to Americans’ security, Huawei still succeeded to win 3000 applications for equipment from the FCC by 2022. The FACT Act helps close such loopholes.
Today FCC grants and revokes licenses, but there is no user-friendly way to view that list in relation to the Covered Entities which pose national security risk. Consumers have little to no transparency to determine whether they are using a technology owned and operated by a foreign hostile government. Even with Congress acting swiftly and unanimously to address such security concerns, some covered companies succeeded to roll back certain requirements in court. I detail how video surveillance providers Hikvision and Dahua, with the aid of former FCC lawyers now in private practice, convinced the court that these technologies used to conduct systematic oppression of Uyghur Muslims in China, were safe for use in Americans’ schools, homes, and offices.
Senator Fischer observes,“Authoritarian regimes like China and Russia are actively working to undermine the security of our domestic communications. My bill will better position the FCC to evaluate the risks foreign ties pose to America’s national security so that we can respond to these network infrastructure threats,”
“Securing our telecommunications systems is crucial for our country’s national security,” said Senator Luján. “The FACT Act is a critical step to promote transparency and boost the FCC’s ability to detect risks posed by our adversaries. I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan bill with my colleagues to safeguard our telecommunications networks.”
Congress deserve commendation for closing this obvious loophole and working in a bi-partisan fashion for all Americans’ safety and security. Consumers can protect themselves by not buying equipment produced by adversarial foreign governments, but they can’t do that unless they have the information. The FACT Act resolves an important shortcoming of national security law and empowers consumers not to buy equipment from malign providers.