🚨 NetChoice/Echelon Insights Poll: Voters Rank AI Regulation Far Behind Cost of Living, Want One National AI Standard WASHINGTON – Heading into the final week of the midterms, voters place regulating artificial intelligence (AI) near the bottom of their priorities, according to a new NetChoice survey conducted by Echelon Insights. Asked to choose the top issues for policymakers, 55% of likely voters named inflation and the cost of living and only 9% named regulating AI. On the question of who should write AI rules, voters favor a single national approach. 68% say Congress should set national AI rules that apply in every state, compared with 19% who say states should set their own, and majorities of Republicans (65%), Independents (64%) and Democrats (72%) agree. "Washington has spent recent months treating AI regulation as a leading voter concern, but voters say kitchen table issues, like inflation and jobs, are far more worthy of government attention," said @RobPWJ, Vice President of Public Affairs at NetChoice. "On AI, over two-thirds of voters (68%) want the clarity of a national framework rather than a state-by-state patchwork." KEY FINDINGS: 1. Cost of living leads. 55% named inflation and the cost of living as a top priority, followed by jobs and the economy (25%), ending the war with Iran (22%) and healthcare costs (20%). Groceries are the top pressure on household finances (66%) and the top area voters want the federal government to focus on when working to lower prices (62%). 2. AI regulation ranks low. 9% named regulating AI as a top priority, and only 2% named breaking up large tech companies. 3. Voters use AI and find it helpful. Half of voters (50%) use AI at least a few times a week. Among those who use it, 46% say it has been extremely or very helpful in their daily life or work. 4. Enforce existing law first. A plurality (48%) say existing laws on fraud, discrimination, privacy and consumer protection should be enforced before new AI-specific laws are written, while 41% want new laws now. 5. Consumer-focused antitrust has broad support. 76% support applying the consumer welfare standard in antitrust enforcement and 7% oppose it. 90% agree antitrust laws should be written and enforced equally on all companies. 6. Breaking up large companies should be a low priority for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Voters want the FTC to focus on stopping fraud and scams (49%) and protecting data privacy (41%). Breaking up large American companies ranked last at 15%. 7. American tech leadership matters. 80% agree the country is stronger when the world's leading technology companies are based in the United States. 35% say breaking up America's leading tech companies would hurt the U.S. in the AI race with China, compared with only 22% who say it would help. 8. Voters reject losing features to EU-style rules. 52% oppose bringing European antitrust regulations to the U.S. if it meant losing access to convenient features they use today, and only 27% support it. 9. Support for data centers rises with information. Support for a data center planned in voters' own county rises from 33% to 44% after they hear more about data centers, and opposition falls from 58% to 48%. 54% agree that keeping data center development growing is key to American national security after being told data centers power hospitals, companies and the military, and 48% say they would be more likely to support new data center investment after learning that major tech companies have committed to pay for the electricity and grid upgrades their facilities require.

🚨NEW LAWSUIT: NetChoice Sues Illinois Over Unconstitutional Social Media User Tax and Digital Ad Tax SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — NetChoice today filed two complaints against the State of Illinois to block enforcement of two newly enacted tax provisions, the Social Media User Tax and the Digital Ad Tax. Both measures unconstitutionally and discriminatorily single out digital services, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the federal Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (PITFA). "Illinois’ new internet taxes firmly establish the state’s opposition to online speech, innovation, and its own business community,” said @Paul_Taske, Director of the NetChoice Litigation Center. “The Supreme Court has made abundantly clear that legislators cannot target a subset of media for disfavored taxation, but that’s precisely what these taxes do. Not only are they flatly unconstitutional under the First Amendment, but they blatantly disregard Congress’s clear judgment under PITFA that digital services cannot be subject to discriminatory taxation.” A Tax on Audience Size Is a Tax on Speech The Social Media User Tax imposes fees on platforms based on the number of Illinois users they reach, exempting services with fewer than 100,000 users while penalizing those with larger audiences. The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that the government may not tax one category of speaker more heavily than another. Illinois' Social Media User Tax follows the same blueprint NetChoice is already challenging in NetChoice v. Chicago, a pending suit over the city's own per-user Social Media Amusement Tax. Both Taxes Run Afoul of Federal Law Both the Social Media User Tax and the Digital Ad Tax are in direct violation of PITFA, the federal law by which Congress expressly barred states from imposing "discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce." Both taxes apply exclusively to online services while leaving comparable offline counterparts — social clubs, community centers, professional associations, and traditional advertising — untouched. This is precisely the sort of digital-only taxation Congress intended to preempt, and similar laws, including Maryland's Digital Advertising Tax, have already been struck down by courts on comparable grounds. Real Costs for Illinoisans and Their Small Businesses Because the Social Media User Tax is a flat fee untethered to a company's actual revenue or profit in Illinois, some services may choose to limit or exit the Illinois market altogether — cutting residents off from vital communication, educational, and community-organizing tools they rely on daily. Local businesses, including restaurants, auto dealers, and community organizations, will also face higher costs to reach customers through online ads under the new Digital Ad Tax. This tax raises the cost of doing business, costs that are likely to be passed on to Illinois consumers, and harms entrepreneurs’ ability to grow.

Data centers cover 38% of Loudoun County, VA's budget. They sit on just 4% of the county's business land — and pay $26 in taxes for every $1 in services they use. Loudoun's homeowners have received property tax cuts for ten years running because of it. 👏