Government & Communications

Threads poses rare threat to Twitter's political monopoly

Meta’s new microblogging app Threads is emerging as a potential threat to Twitter’s lock on politicians and political observers seeking real-time news and debate.  Most Twitter competitors have struggled to match the size and bipartisanship of its user base, but Threads is garnering significant participation from both parties.

Your Voice Matters: State Digital Equity Plans Seek Public Feedback

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will regularly post Digital Equity plans on this website. If you’re unsure about when your state’s digital equity plan will be available for public comment, we recommend bookmarking the link and checking it frequently. The public comment period is a mandatory step in the State Digital Equity Plan process that solicits a public response and comments on the draft plan. To know when to expect your

Ruling Puts Social Media at Crossroads of Disinformation and Free Speech

Two months after President Biden took office, his top digital adviser emailed officials at Facebook urging them to do more to limit the spread of “vaccine hesitancy” on the social media platform. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, officials held “weekly sync” meetings with Facebook, once emailing the company 16 “misinformation” posts. And in the summer of 2021, the surgeon general’s top aide repeatedly urged Google, Facebook and Twitter to do more to combat disinformation.

State Department cancels Facebook meetings after judge’s ‘censorship’ ruling

One day after a Louisiana federal judge set limits on the Biden administration’s communications with tech firms, the US State Department canceled its regular meeting with Facebook officials to discuss 2024 election preparations and hacking threats. State Department officials said all future meetings, which had been held monthly, have been “canceled pending further guidance." The cancellation shows the immediate impact of the order by US District Judge Terry A. Doughty, a Trump appointee.

We Shouldn’t Ask Technologists To Be Arbiters of “Truth”

Big Tech’s enforcement of various official truths that turned out to be false has undermined trust in both the leading tech companies and society overall. In addition to their own content moderators, four other organizational entities have been used to determine misinformation, disinformation, and so-called malinformation.  All four have serious shortcomings:

Federal Judge Limits Biden Officials’ Contacts With Social Media Sites

Judge Terry Doughty of the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana restricted parts of the Biden administration from communicating with social media platforms about broad swaths of content online.

Wisconsin PSC Asks Wisconsin Households to Share Internet Experience to Improve Broadband Access and Affordability

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) is calling on Wisconsin households to share their internet experience to help direct recently announced broadband funding.

FCC Chair ‘Exploring Options’ on New Streaming Regulations in Response to Congress

Video streamers and other edge providers are fighting a multi-front war in Washington lately, as Congress applies pressure on the Federal Communications Commission to apply good-faith negotiation rules to over-the-top content providers, as it does traditional video providers, and as hundreds of rural broadband providers and associations call on the agency to make edge providers contribute to broadband buildout subsidies. The FCC wrestled with the issue of how and whether to regulate th

Utah Broadband Center Seeks Public Input on Plans To Expand High-Speed Internet Access Throughout Utah

The Utah Broadband Center (UBC), part of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, asks for public feedback on the drafts of the Utah Digital Connectivity Plan and Digital Equity Plan. Comments can be submitted online through July 6, 2023. The Utah Digital Connectivity Plan and Digital Equity Plan highlight Utah’s vision, goals, objectives, and strategies to help get all Utahns connected to affordable high-speed broadband internet and access to the tools and resources needed to succeed in the digital world.

NTIA Receives More Than 1,400 Comments on AI Accountability Policy

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) received roughly 1,447 written comments in response to its Artificial Intelligence Accountability Policy Request for Comment (RFC), which was issued in April, 2023, and is part of President Biden’s commitment to seizing the opportunities AI presents while managing its risks. The comments are available to the public at Regulations.gov: https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NTIA-2023-0005/comments. These comments will help inform

Indiana aims to keep local communities informed about BEAD

All states are tackling broadband accessibility in some way, but each is taking its own approach.

FTC Puts Online Marketplaces on Notice About Their Responsibilities Under the New INFORM Consumers Act

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent letters to 50 online marketplaces nationwide notifying them about their obligation to comply with the new Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act – or the INFORM Consumers Act – as soon as it takes effect on June 27, 2023. “The INFORM Consumers Act requires online marketplaces to protect consumers from counterfeit, unsafe, and stolen goods by verifying their high-volume third-party sel

Building Publicly Owned Broadband Starts with a Low-Tech Approach: Community Buy-in

Ten years ago, long before the unprecedented amounts of federal funding in rural Internet infrastructure, Roger Heinen watched Islesboro’s population drop precipitously. In 2014, Heinen formed a small volunteer coalition to come up with a solution for the island of under 600 year-round residents. In 2016, voters approved a $3.8 million bond to fund the construction of a fiber-to-the-premises infrastructure capable of speeds of 1 gigabit per second.

Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Bipartisan Bill to Preserve Strong, Independent Journalism and News Organizations

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Kennedy (R-LA), to the full Senate on a bipartisan vote of 14-7. The bill would allow news organizations to jointly negotiate fair compensation by Big Tech companies that profit from their news content. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would:

Maine's Vision of Digital Equity

This month, the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) released the state's draft Broadband Action Plan, which provides a roadmap for Maine's progress toward digital equity moving forward. The plan envisions a Maine where everyone, especially those traditionally underserved and facing more barriers to being connected, can take full advantage of the economic, educational, health, civic, social and other benefits that reliable, affordable, high-speed broadband can provide.

Chairwoman Rosenworcel Launches Privacy and Data Protection Task Force

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Rosenworcel established the new Privacy and Data Protection Task Force. This FCC staff working group will coordinate across the agency on the rulemaking, enforcement, and public awareness needs in the privacy and data protection sectors. This will include data breaches – such as those involving telecommunications providers and related to cyber intrusions – and supply chain vulnerabilities involving third-party vendors that service regulated communications providers. FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan A.

Biden-⁠Harris Administration and Civic Nation Bring Together Over 300 National and Community Organizations to Help Students and Families Cut Costs and Access Affordable High-Speed Internet

The Biden Administration announced that Civic Nation and the US Department of Education are launching Online For All, a digital equity campaign working to close the digital divide by focusing on internet access, affordability, and equity for students, families, and all Americans. Online For All will work with nonprofit, government, corporate, and media stakeholders to educate communities about how the Biden-Harris Internet for All Initiative can help them access reliable, affordable high-speed internet. The partnership is kicking off with a Week of Ac

ICANN at 25: More Important Than Ever

Collectively, we have come a long way together since the early days of [the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers] ICANN. In fact, this year marks the 25th anniversary of ICANN. As someone who was around for those early days, it’s amazing to think about how much the Internet has changed. When ICANN began in 1998, there were less than 150 million people on the Internet.

NTIA Receives More Than 250 Comments to Inform Digital Equity Act Programs

To further the development of the upcoming phases of the Digital Equity Act, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a Request for Comment on March 2, 2023. The comment window closed on May 1, 2023, and a wide range of stakeholders from across the country submitted 252 written submissions.

Gigi Sohn: Dark Money Fueled FCC Nomination Failure

Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] has weighed in on the political forces that prevented her from taking a seat on the Federal Communications Commission after her nomination by President Joe Biden and her decades of experience in communications, primarily as a public advocate and briefly as a top FCC adviser.

FCC Proposes Action to Expedite the Transition to Next Generation 911

The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules to advance the transition to Next Generation 911, help ensure that the nation’s 911 system functions effectively, and support the deployment of advanced 911 capabilities—including video, text, and data—that will help first responders save lives. State and local 911 authorities are now transitioning to NG911 by replacing legacy circuit-switched 911 networks with Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks and applications that will support new 911 capabilities, including text, video, and data, as well as improved interoperability and system resi

Governor Whitmer Launches Statewide Initiative to Increase Affordable Connectivity Program Adoption

Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and the Michigan High Speed Internet Office kicked-off a statewide Michigan Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Act Now initiative to increase awareness of the ACP, a $14.2 billion federal broadband benefit funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), that will connect more Michiganders to the long-term benefit that helps lower-income families pay for high-speed internet. The Michigan ACP Act Now initiative will unite a broad coalition of partner cities, community-based organizations and trusted institutions in partnership with EducationSup

Republican presidential contenders are taking aim at Silicon Valley

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed into law a so-called “digital bill of rights” aimed at giving residents more control of their data, boosting children’s protections online, and barring social networks from coordinating with government officials to “censor” speech. It marked the latest broadside from a Republican presidential contender against Silicon Valley, which is poised to be a significant target as the 2024 campaign heats up.