Happy New Year and welcome to 2025! Here at the Glen Echo Group, we’ve been working to get ourselves ― and our clients and partners ― set up for success in 2025. We’ve reflected on last year’s major tech policy developments and explained some of the must-have tools in every DC engagement toolbox. Now, it’s time to share our forecast. What might have enough momentum to pass through Congress in 2025? What areas of tech policy will lawmakers focus on, and where? Will key tech appointments change the face of tech policy as we know it? 

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The 119th Congress is likely to remain partly cloudy for the first quarter of 2025.

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At the federal level, the 118th Congress closed its relatively unproductive session by passing just under 150 bills amid deep political division (compared to the 360 passed by the 117th). Privacy has now officially replaced the infrastructure meme, as the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) withered on the vine. While kids online safety dominated headlines, Congress failed to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). The 118th also allowed the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) ― an internet subsidy for more than 23 million households ― to expire in May, despite numerous bills proposed to extend it and slowed the allocation of funds for the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which would invest in domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research. 

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Here’s what we’re watching in 2025:  

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Broadband 

• Spectrum remains one of the most contentious tech policy issues in 2025. At the end of 2024, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included provisions for a one-time auction of the AWS-3 spectrum band’s licenses to fund the “rip and replace” program. Though the FCC’s spectrum auction authority lapsed in March 2023, Republicans have also indicated an interest in allocating more licenses for commercial use and may try to include FCC auction authority in future reconciliation packages. Spectrum auction proceeds are a great “pay-for.” 
• President-elect Donald Trump has tapped X and Starlink owner Elon Musk to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Questions remain about his potential impact on satellite broadband policy, including weighing in on spectrum license battles and influencing how states may turn to low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites to reach their unserved and underserved communities with Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding. 
• Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr applauded the 6th Circuit Court’s recent ruling to strike down net neutrality, calling the decision “a good win for the country” and a move to clawback recent “regulatory overreach” of the internet. He’s also been outspoken on spectrum auction authority (he believes it’s essential to reinstate), satellite broadband (he supports), Universal Service Fund (USF) reform (he supports) and Section 230 (he has called for the FCC to reinterpret the law to allow social media companies to avoid liability for user content).
• The Supreme Court will weigh in on the constitutionality of the USF framework this term. Though Republicans have signaled plans to reform the program, it’s unlikely those reforms would occur until the Court issues its decision — likely in June.

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AI

• The conversation around AI regulation will shift to deregulation, focused on competition with China and the need for continued American innovation. 
• The Trump administration is expected to repeal the Biden administration’s Executive Order on AI, which established the US AI Safety Institute and outlined requirements for companies to report on AI models. 

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Content Moderation

• The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in TikTok’s challenge to a law banning the app in the U.S. if not sold by its China-based parent company, ByteDance. Depending on the action the court takes, the future of the app could rest with Trump, who recently vowed to “save” the app despite initially calling for its ban.
• Trump tapped Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to lead the consumer protection agency. Ferguson has recently declared his intention to protect free speech online, saying in December, “If platforms or advertisers are colluding to suppress free speech in violation of the antitrust laws, the FTC must prosecute them and break up those cartels.” 

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Antitrust & Competition

• Ferguson’s anti-Big Tech sentiment could have significant implications, given that he will take over the various antitrust lawsuits and investigations against tech companies already underway at the agency.
• Platforms like Google and Meta continue to face scrutiny from the courts. These cases could shape how platforms operate moving forward, particularly on AI.

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Cybersecurity

• Many of the first Trump administration's national security and cybersecurity policies stayed in place, such as the TikTok ban TikTok and the creation of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Their longevity, however, is unclear: while the TikTok ban is up in the air, there is potential for rehousing CISA within another department.
• The next Congress will continue to grapple with the ongoing hack of U.S. telecommunications systems linked to Chinese state-sponsored Salt Typhoon. 

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Activity at the state and international levels will remain in a stormy pattern. 

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In the States

While a national privacy law is unlikely to be a high priority for the Trump administration and Congress, the framework being developed in the states could nevertheless lead to strong national privacy protections. Indeed, the states are where most of the action took place on tech regulations last year, and this trend is likely to continue. Colorado is a solid example of state-level productivity; in 2024, the Centennial State passed a first-of-its-kind neurotechnology privacy law and the country’s most comprehensive AI law. 

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European Union & Beyond

In the EU, which has emerged as a leader in developing tech regulations in the last few years, 2024 was action-packed. In 2025, we expect the EU’s leadership to continue as the region seeks to set the standard for other jurisdictions looking to regulate the tech sector. 

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Digital Markets

• The EU’s Digital Markets Act came into force on March 7, requiring compliance from six designated gatekeepers: Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and ByteDance. 
• The United Kingdom has set out its plans for the country’s new digital markets competition regime, bringing tighter requirements around supporting competitors' products.
• Digital platform competition has come under global scrutiny ― including by regulators in Australia, India, Korea and more ― and Japan's version of the EU’s law to promote competition in digital markets will roll out by the end of 2025.

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Artificial intelligence 

• In August 2024, the EU’s AI Act went into effect, starting a series of compliance deadlines for AI development and applications that will be top of mind in 2025. 
• The UK has also adopted its own AI framework, though taking more of a light-touch approach compared to the EU.  

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Privacy

• Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a muscle that regulators continue to flex; Dutch and French regulators fined Uber €290 million for breaching the privacy law by failing to protect European drivers’ privacy when transferring data onto U.S. servers.

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We’ll be monitoring where laws are passed and what challenges they may create for the industry-leading tech companies in the United States.

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One thing is clear ― in Congress, state legislatures and the courts and around the world, tech policy is everywhere, all at once. To stay informed and prepared, we developed our proprietary dashboard, IssueIQ to track and analyze legislative, regulatory and judicial action on key issues. It also folds in media coverage, contacts and tools for real-time mobilization. 

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If you have questions or want to learn more about how you can gear up for another busy year in tech policy, send us a note.

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