October 2022

Twitter Is Drafting Broad Job Cuts, Days After Elon Musk’s Takeover (Wall Street Journal)

Submitted by benton on Sun, 10/30/2022 - 15:09

Elon Musk, right-wing figures push misinformation about Pelosi attack (Washington Post)

Submitted by benton on Sun, 10/30/2022 - 15:09

You’ve decided to quit Twitter. Here’s what you can use to replace it. (Washington Post)

Submitted by benton on Sun, 10/30/2022 - 15:07

How Facebook and TikTok are helping push Stop the Steal in Brazil (Washington Post)

Submitted by benton on Sun, 10/30/2022 - 15:07

US tech giants face pressure from Europe’s telecommunications companies to pay for building the internet

In Europe, the battle between US Big Tech companies and telecommunications firms has reached a fever pitch. Telecom groups are pushing European regulators to consider implementing a framework where the companies that send traffic along their networks are charged a fee to help fund mammoth upgrades to their infrastructure, something known as the “sender pays” principle. Their logic is that certain platforms, like Amazon Prime and Netflix, chew through gargantuan amounts of data and should therefore foot part of the bill for adding new capacity to cope with the increased strain.

Millions Of Americans Are Still Missing Out On Broadband Access And Leaving Money On The Table—Here’s Why

Across the country, rural households and low-wage workers are stuck with slow or no internet while the rest of the world moves forward with high-speed broadband. Lack of broadband shuts workers out of jobs. People who live in rural areas without high-speed internet access depend on local coffee shops and other public facilities with high-speed internet to fill in the gap. Beyond work, online healthcare, education, and conveniences like online shopping work best—and sometimes only—with broadband. During the pandemic, these tasks became necessities for many.

Lower income neighborhoods shouldn't be paying so much for slower internet service

An explosive report from nonprofit journalism outlet The Markup analyzed data on internet speeds and pricing in 38 US cities and found that AT&T, Verizon, EarthLink, and CenturyLink all disproportionately offered lower-income and less-white neighborhoods slower internet for the same price that nearby whiter, wealthier neighborhoods paid for faster speeds.

FCC November 2022 Open Meeting Agenda

The Federal Communications Commission has been working to fulfill three important Congressional mandates. One would enhance national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our border. Another would empower consumers to make more informed decisions about broadband service by requiring broadband providers to display “nutrition” labels that disclose information about pricing and network performance.

Verizon lays off a ‘small number’ of workers as cost cutting program begins (Fierce)

Submitted by dclay@benton.org on Fri, 10/28/2022 - 14:03

Charter’s incoming CEO says there won’t be a seismic shift in strategy (Fierce)