Communications, Technology and Innovation

Monday, March 9, 2026·52m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Virginia Communications, Technology and Innovation Committee tabled a data portability bill 17-3 after concerns about federal funding threats and constitutional issues, while advancing an AI deepfakes-in-elections bill 14-6 with a substitute and unanimously reporting a voice and likeness protection bill 20-0.

Key Actions

·SB 141 – AI Deepfakes and Election DefamationNo Vote

+ 1 more action

Controversies

SB 85 — feasibility of interoperability at scale

Senator Van Valkenberg and Matthew Lipka argued open protocols already exist and are used by tens of millions of people worldwide, while Eric Link stated he is 'unaware of an open protocol that would work at scale, that would facilitate the type of interoperability that's been discussed,' and Nathan Trail stated 'there is no widely adopted standard for transferring complex database like social graphs or AI conversational histories at scale.'

+ 4 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“Today's dominant platforms do not have to earn our children's loyalty. They only have to make it difficult for them to leave. When a young person's entire social world, their friends, conversations, photos, memories are all locked inside a single platform, switching becomes almost impossible.”
Deb Schmill — Schmill, founder and president of the Becca Schmill Foundation, testified in favor of SB 85, the Virginia Digital Choice Act, arguing that platform lock-in traps children and that her daughter Becca died in 2020 after being sold something laced with fentanyl facilitated through social media.

+ 4 more quotes

Votes

Substitute adoption for SB 85Passed

Delegate Shin moved to gently lay SB 85 on the table with a request for a letter to JCOTTS to further examine the body of workPassed

Substitute adoption for SB 141Passed

Delegate Shin moved to report SB 141 with substitutePassed

Motion to report SB 753Passed

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TranscriptPreview

All right. Good morning, everybody. We are here for the March 9 meeting of the Communications Technology and Innovation committee. We have three bills on the docket today. Mr. Clerk, please open the roll. Members, signify your presence. And we have a quorum. And even more of a quant if you hold the. I can go back? Why not? Thank you, Mr. All right, we have a quorum. All right, members, we have on the docket today three bills. And first up, we have Senate Bill 85. We're going to call first Senator Van Valkenberg. Senator Van Valkenberg. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, there is a substitute, I believe the substitute. Second, it's been moving properly. Seconded that we have the substitute in front of us. All those in favor say aye. Substitute is properly before us. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Members of the committee, explain what. Yeah, I'll briefly explain the bill, tell you what the substitute does, and then come back to the bill. This is a bill that basically does two things. One is it provides for portability of data for social media companies and AI, meaning you as a user are able to control your…

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