<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""><i class="">Great new letter from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP, the National Urban League, Upturn and others on how IPEF’s “digital trade” terms could undermine attempts to safeguard against discrimination in AI and algorithms...</i></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""><br class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""><br class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/25/musk-gives-desantis-twitter-boost-breaking-another-tech-norm/" style="font-size: 11pt; color: blue;" class="">https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/25/musk-gives-desantis-twitter-boost-breaking-another-tech-norm/</a></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in;" class=""><b class=""><font face="Arial" size="5" class="">Civil rights groups warn trade talks may hurt efforts to counter discriminatory algorithms<o:p class=""></o:p></font></b></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><font face="Arial" class=""> </font></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><font face="Arial" class=""> </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><font face="Arial" class="">Lawmakers have argued that AI, privacy and competition regulations may be weakened by tech groups justifying they infringe on trade policies. (Denis Charlet/AFP)<o:p class=""></o:p></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><font face="Arial" class=""> </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><font face="Arial" class="">A coalition of civil rights and consumer protection groups <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/eea26d7a-08ef-4687-a4ba-c26e38ad7ffe.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_44" style="color: blue;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42);" class="">warned in a letter</span></a> to <strong class="">President Biden </strong>Tuesday<strong class=""> </strong>that ongoing trade talks risk eroding efforts to mitigate algorithmic discrimination.<o:p class=""></o:p></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><font face="Arial" class=""> </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 1.25rem; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><font face="Arial" class="">The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Public Citizen and a dozen other groups wrote that certain digital trade provisions considered in a proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework would stall government efforts to ensure algorithms behave fairly when making decisions about job access, health care, housing, lending and other areas.<o:p class=""></o:p></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><font face="Arial" class=""> </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 1.25rem; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><font face="Arial" class="">The groups argue one potential provision would allow tech companies to keep their source code and algorithms secret, arguing that it could “thwart” assessments that test algorithms for racial biases or legal violations. Lawmakers have expressed related concerns about the tech industry’s influence in the trade talks, voicing concern that AI, privacy and competition regulations may be weakened by tech groups arguing<strong class=""> </strong>they <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/24/big-tech-trying-weaponize-us-trade-talks-democrats-warn/?itid=lk_inline_manual_48" style="color: blue;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(42, 42, 42);" class="">infringe on trade policies</span></a>. <o:p class=""></o:p></font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><font face="Arial" class=""> </font></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 1.25rem; color: var(--wpds-colors-gray40); box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: var(--wpds-space-150); line-height: var(--wpds-lineHeights-160);" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class=""><font face="Arial" class="">The White House did not return a request for comment. U.S. Trade Representative spokesman <strong class="">Sam Michel </strong>said in a statement, “Throughout the development of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, USTR officials have met with a broad range of stakeholders to solicit input and ensure that diverse perspectives are heard from – not just those that can afford Washington lobbyists."<o:p class=""></o:p></font></span></div><div class=""><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt;" class=""><o:p class=""><font face="Arial" class=""> </font></o:p></div></div><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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