Jennifer Huddleston March 25, 2020
·
The United States’
largely permissionless approach to regulating technology has allowed innovators
and companies to build services that make social distancing more achievable and
tolerable for many.
·
User-generated content
on social-media platforms has both enabled useful information to spread and
provided helpful diversions, and while user-generated content can create
problems with misinformation, policymakers should maintain the Section 230
liability protections that have facilitated the explosion of user-generated
content.
·
Innovators’ and
entrepreneurs’ responses to the to the current crisis highlight areas for
additional policy reform, particularly in reducing regulatory barriers for
emerging technologies that could assist in responding to COVID-19.
Introduction
In recent days, many Americans have found
themselves working from home, in virtual classrooms, and more generally just
staying home. A decade or two ago, such a transition would have resulted in
much more friction for many workers and students (if it was possible at all).
The rapid pace of technological innovation, however, is enabling a new normal
to emerge. In addition to making it easier to stay home, technology is also
assisting in efforts to respond to the COVID-19 virus, from helping share important
information to innovative ideas for responding to potential shortages. The
approach to technology policy that has allowed new technologies to develop
rapidly with few barriers to entry is proving to be particularly beneficial
right now. Policymakers should recognize the way America’s permissionless approach has made social
distancing and other responses to the pandemic a more achievable reality and
also consider removing barriers to certain emerging technologies to further the
response to COVID-19.
Social Distancing Made Easier Thanks to
Innovation
FaceTime is around a decade old. According to Pew Research, it was about 12 years ago that
the majority of Americans had broadband internet at home. Streaming via
services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video became available around 2007,
while services like Instacart and DoorDash have yet to celebrate a decade in
business. Yet in the recent days of social distancing whether for work, school,
or keeping up with friends, we’ve embraced how these and many other tools make
it far easier to stay home. If the pandemic had occurred a decade ago, the
options available for working from home and staying connected would have been
more limited.
Why have we experienced such rapid technological
advancement? America has largely embraced a regulatory framework that empowers
innovators and entrepreneurs, particularly in information technology, to offer
their products with minimal regulatory interference. This approach has kept barriers
to entry low compared to more regulated industries or countries that have taken
an overly precautionary approach. As a result, America is home not only to many
of the largest tech companies but also to many smaller companies that may arise
to fulfill specific needs. This robust innovation ecosystem has benefitted
American consumers by providing both a wide variety of choices and, in
particular, free and low-cost options for services that are available now in a
time of crisis.
Underlying many of these services is improved
internet connectivity and speed. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
and many telecommunications providers have shown great leadership to ensure
Americans stay connected during this time. The FCC’s Keep
Americans Connected voluntary pledge has been adopted by
hundreds of telephone and broadband service providers who have promised not to
disconnect services for 60 days, to waive late fees in the same period, and to
open up WiFi hotspots to any American that needs them.
Because they are operating under a policy
framework that does not have overly precautionary barriers to entry, innovative
companies have been able to develop new products that have improved our lives
in an especially trying time. For example, video chats help us stay more
connected and are growing faster than ever. Meanwhile, a number of internet
platforms have helped provide important information about COVID-19. For
example, Google launched a coronavirus information website with
state-based information and safety and precaution tips as well as enhanced
search results with information related to the pandemic. Facebook hosted a live conversation between the
director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Dr.
Anthony Fauci and Mark Zuckerberg encouraging young people to take the disease
seriously.
But wealth of information on internet platforms
is not just driven by the platforms themselves, but by the content generated by
their users—and a specific law, Section 230, has largely enabled the
flourishing of such user-generated content. Section 230 limits the liability of
platforms for the content that users post, a protection that makes such
platforms viable. Most recently, coronavirus-related searches and hashtags have
dominated online conversations, but user-generated content extends far beyond
those. Many have found welcome relief in the zoos and aquariums posting videos
of animals exploring their relatively human-free locations, while parents who
now find themselves helping teach children have access to various message
boards, lesson plans, and more.
With user-generated content comes the risk of
false or misleading information, and there have been concerns about
misinformation on COVID-19 as well. and many platforms signed a joint statement
to work with government health care agencies to combat fraud and misinformation
about the virus. Some platforms are also looking beyond just potential
misinformation and choosing to police online ads and sales in effort to prevent
predatory behavior such as hoarding or price gouging. Facebook banned advertising and marketplace sales of
face masks, hand sanitizer, surface wipes, and COVID-19 test kits. Amazon and
eBay have also cracked down on secondary marketplace sellers that
were inflating prices of such supplies.
Reducing Barriers for New Technologies to
Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic
In addition to technologies keeping us
connected, there are several emerging technologies that are helping or could
help the response to the pandemic. Reducing regulatory barriers for
technologies such as drones and 3-D printing could further assist in the
response to the global pandemic.
One of the key concerns about COVID-19 is the
potential strain it may place on the current stock of medical equipment such as
ventilators and protective equipment. Some start-ups have been working together
to come up with a way to 3-D print crucial ventilator valves at a
lower cost, increasing the overall production of these critical devices. In
Montana, a doctor has been 3-D printing masks to help deal with
shortages. This type of behavior at times can be in violation of requirements
for the regulation of medical devices and in other cases raise potential patent concerns. Yet as with other
cases such as 3-D printing prosthetics for children, this type of evasive entrepreneurship (as Mercatus
Center scholar Adam Thierer has called it) likely does more good than the harm
resulting from violating approval regulations.
Drones could also play a role in enabling
deliveries both for those in quarantine and for medical supplies. A couple on
the Diamond Princess reportedly ordered wine delivery by drone
while the ship was quarantined. In some countries even prior to the COVID-19
pandemic, drones have been used to deliver critical medical supplies such as blood.
Now might be a good time to consider reforming the regulatory barriers that prevent such usages in
the United States.
In some cases, policymakers already seem to be
aware of and embracing the opportunity to remove regulatory barriers. For
example, the CARES Act provides increased opportunities to use telemedicine by
increasing the flexibility for Medicare reimbursement for these visits and
allowing them to count toward the deductible for high deductible health plans.
This important technology could be particularly useful in rural areas with fewer medical
providers as well as providing a way to relieve some of the strain on emergency
rooms and hospitals for initial screenings.
Ideally, given their advantages, such policy
changes will stay in place after the initial pandemic ends. Innovators and
entrepreneurs are thinking of creative solutions to the challenges of the
COVID-19 pandemic, and policymakers should look to remove regulatory red tape
that may prevent such response. If such regulations are unnecessary during a
time of crisis, then policymakers should reconsider the purpose behind them
more generally. One way to go about such re-evaluation would be to sunset such
regulations, which would force policymakers to review them and actively move to
extend them.
Conclusion
The United States has been a leader in
innovation and many emerging technologies thanks to an approach that encourages
experimentation and limits barriers to entry. The current crisis is only
demonstrating the value of such a regulatory approach to technology. After the
pandemic, policymakers should seek to continue the United States’ generally
permissionless approach that has allowed technologies to emerge and flourish.
https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/how-technology-policy-helps-enables-covid-19-responses/#ixzz6HoNEr4i5
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