OAMA Would Thwart Digital Services’ Abilities to Moderate Dangerous Content and Ensure Cybersecurity Online
As Congress considers lame duck passage of the Open App Markets Act (OAMA) or inclusion in must-pass budget bills, it’s important to remember the serious security and content moderation risks presented by the legislation.
OAMA Presents Serious Cybersecurity And National Security Risks
OAMA “breaks critical cybersecurity protections,” says Taxpayers Protection Alliance Executive Director Patrick Hedger. “The Open App Markets Act breaks critical cybersecurity protections and parental controls on smartphones essentially to subsidize multibillion dollar companies that produce violent video games and dating apps. The government should not be making it easier for bad actors in basements and foreign military bases to gain access to the devices that power our daily lives just to pad the bottom lines of huge developers.”
OAMA’s requirements would give “cyber criminals the tools to get around security firewalls,” says NetChoice Manager of Internet Governance Policy Caroline Lupetini. “Bad actors can take advantage of sideloading and third-party payment systems to infect devices with malware and steal consumer data. OAMA would also require companies to publicly release their security practices, giving cyber criminals the tools to get around security firewalls. This will damage all of our safety and privacy online, especially with our most personal data, like medical and financial information.”
American Enterprise Institute’s Mark Jamison says that OAMA would put the U.S.’s “national security and industries at risk.” “The sponsors of the AICOA and OAMA have been dismissive of the national security issues. They should not. It is never a good time to put a country’s national security and industries at risk, but the rising tensions with Russia, China, and other tech-savvy countries make these legislations come at particularly bad times.”
Hedger adds that if passed, the bill would force consumers to “shell out extra money” for cybersecurity. “Instead of addressing the very real cybersecurity concerns of this bill, some supporters have suggested it’s on Americans to shell out extra money for antivirus software for their devices where it currently isn’t needed.”
Jamison adds that legislators have neglected national security concerns in their crafting of the legislation. “The sponsors of the AICOA and OAMA have been dismissive of the national security issues. They should not. It is never a good time to put a country’s national security and industries at risk, but the rising tensions with Russia, China, and other tech-savvy countries make these legislations come at particularly bad times.”
OAMA Limits Digital Services’ Ability To Moderate Dangerous Content
Lupetini warns that OAMA also poses risks to children’s safety online, forcing digital services to “drop their moderation standards for their app stores.” Specifically, OAMA’s allowance of sideloading would force app marketplaces to host content that may be obscene or violate their terms of service. According to Lupetini, “Malicious actors may hope to exploit children by communicating with them via unsecure chat apps and, in the worst cases, soliciting or exposing kids to explicit material. OAMA would force covered platforms to drop their moderation standards for their app stores, flooding the marketplace with explicit or violent apps which would be easily accessible by kids online.”
Georgetown Law Professor Anumpan Chander notes that OAMA “in its current draft has serious negative consequences for content moderation.”
— In the tweet, Chander links to a letter to lawmakers from himself and 16 other technology legal experts noting that bills like AICOA and OAMA “will lead to more hate speech, more disinformation, and more harassment online.”
OAMA would make it difficult for consumers to determine “whether an app or app store is trustworthy or whether it contains, say, objectionable content,” according to Lazar Radic of Truth on the Market. “Narrowing choice through a more curated system frees users from having to research every possible option every time they buy or use some product. Instead, they can defer to the platform’s expertise in determining whether an app or app store is trustworthy or whether it contains, say, objectionable content.”