Biden’s stance on Huawei, 5G and Section 230 still fuzzy

Officials in the Biden administration are beginning to offer hints about how they might move forward on a variety of hot topics, including Huawei and China, social media oversight and 5G.

It’s still early days of course. And whatever officials say at the beginning of President Biden’s administration may have little bearing on what actually happens over the course of the next four years. Further, it’s unclear how new developments on these topics and policy pursuits might ultimately affect telecom network operators and their suppliers.

Nonetheless, it’s worth sifting through some of the recent statements by current or future officials in the Biden administration to get a sense of which way the wind might be blowing.

Huawei and China

Officials in the Biden administration have offered a decidedly vague public stance on how they might deal with Huawei and China.

The waffling started with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who said this week that “we need to play a better defense” when it comes to Huawei and China, “which must include holding China accountable for its unfair and illegal practices, and making sure that American technologies aren’t facilitating China’s military buildup.”

She did not say what that means from a practical standpoint.

More recently, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo – Biden’s nominee to head the US Commerce Department – offered an equally ambiguous stance on the topic.

“I would use the full toolkit at my disposal to the fullest extent possible to protect Americans and our network from Chinese interference or any kind of back-door influence,” she said in testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee, according to Reuters.

Importantly, though, she refused to commit to keeping Huawei on the Commerce Department’s economic blacklist.

That’s noteworthy considering the Trump administration took an extremely outspoken approach to China by banning US business with Huawei and rallying US allies against the company.

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