Reporting

Many Democrats, as well as some Republicans, want to take on Big Tech with laws and regulations to address issues like market power, data privacy, and disinformation and hate speech. Those ambitions have only grown since the insurrection of Capitol Hill, with more members of Congress pointing to the power of the tech companies as the root cause of many problems. The growing talk of new federal laws adds to the industry’s many headaches. Facebook and Google are fighting federal and state regulators in court over allegations of anticompetitive conduct.

Gov Gina Raimondo (D-RI), President Biden's nominee for Commerce Secretary, is pledging to use the tools at her disposal to pursue Section 230 reform, saying that she hopes to hold social media companies "accountable" for misinformation. "I would agree we need some reform on Section 230," said Gov Raimondo during her confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Commerce Committee.

A group of 75 activist groups and nonprofits have urged against sweeping changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, warning that it could silence marginalized communities while making online moderation harder. “Section 230 is a foundational law for free expression and human rights when it comes to digital speech,” the letter says.

Acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency is reviewing reports of internet-related outages on the US East Coast on Jan 26 that made it difficult for some people to work or to go to online school. The FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau "is working to get to the bottom of what is going on."

My top priority for the coming weeks is getting emergency broadband access to as many Americans as possible. If we’re successful, the Emergency Broadband Benefit will reach more disconnected low-income people and households of color than any previous Federal Communications Commission effort to close the digital divide. But Congress has—quite reasonably under the circumstances—given us just 60 days to set up the program.

The two richest men on the planet are sparring in front of federal regulators over the massive satellite internet projects their companies are developing. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter, as his company works to persuade Federal Communications Commission officials that it should allow SpaceX to move some of its Starlink satellites to lower altitudes than originally planned. Jeff Bezos’ Amazon has been among companies that have disputed SpaceX’s request, on the grounds that the modification would interfere with other satellites.

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) outlined a plan for fellow Republican members to hammer Big Tech companies. The "Big Tech Accountability Platform” serves as both a rallying cry for Republicans in the minority and an outline for some policy changes that could win bipartisan support. McMorris Rodgers suggests working with Democratic lawmakers on an agreement to sunset or establish a reauthorization date for Section 230 as a legislative starting point.

President Joe Biden's recent pick to chair the Federal Communications Commission, Jessica Rosenworcel, is welcome news to those who have been fighting to help students access the internet during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cable operators smashed records in 2020, adding more than 4 million customers in the first nine months of that year, fueled in part by the pandemic. But as hopes rise that COVID-19 will loosen its grip on the country, sending more people back to offices and schools and potentially softening broadband gains, many providers are looking toward the fringes of their footprints and extending their networks deeper into less-populated areas for growth. Extending the footprint, or making “edge-outs,” is nothing new for the industry.

Peter Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend (IN) and President Biden’s nominee to head the Transportation Department gave a shoutout to broadband internet during his Senate Commerce nomination hearing on Jan 21, which could help elevate the issue in a Biden infrastructure push. Buttigieg will be a leading figure on infrastructure matters if confirmed. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who co-chairs the Broadband Caucus, used her questioning to probe the matter.