Politico

President Donald Trump has promoted a central figure in the House impeachment inquiry who defied a subpoena to testify. Robert Blair — a top aide to acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney — was named the special representative for international telecommunications policy, a position that puts Blair in a central role atop a US effort to “promote a secure and reliable global telecommunications system.” “In this new capacity, Mr. Blair will support the Administration’s 5G efforts led by the Assistant to the President for Economy Policy, Larry Kudlow,” the White House said in a statement. “Mr.

The House is scheduled to vote on its bipartisan compromises aimed at improving broadband mapping and securing the US telecommunications supply chain (and helping rural wireless carriers rip and replace any existing gear from providers like Huawei that the administration has labeled a security risk).

House committee leaders are still unable to strike a final deal on key privacy issues and are instead opting to release a discussion draft as bipartisan talks continue. House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairwoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) is spearheading those talks in the chamber. She will release a draft bill as early as next week that will not address hotly contested issues over whether a national standard should override state laws or enable consumers to sue companies over privacy violations.

The Federal Communications Commission supplied Democratic leaders on the House Commerce Committee with an update on a long-running probe of wireless carriers’ unauthorized disclosure of subscriber location data to third parties. Those lawmakers last month requested that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai arrange for an update to Congress by Nov.

European Union communications ministers will gather in Brussels on Dec 3 to discuss how to safeguard emerging fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks. Their decisions could have lasting impacts on European countries’ ability to protect their people’s privacy, and ultimately, safeguard their freedoms. It’s critical that European countries not give control of their critical infrastructure to Chinese tech giants like Huawei, or ZTE. But securing 5G networks means more than preventing any one company from building them.

Speculation is at a fever pitch surrounding Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s pending decision on how to sell the 5G-friendly airwaves in the so-called C-band, with many suspecting the FCC may take up an item on the matter at its Dec. 12 meeting.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-South bend), who has been a Silicon Valley favorite in the 2020 presidential race, is calling out several tech giants for harming workers. In his new policy plan, Mayor Buttigieg singles out Facebook, Google and Uber for troubling labor practices, and pledges to hold employers accountable under labor laws, strengthen unions and expand protections for gig workers. “The status quo with companies like Facebook and Uber setting the rules and government sitting on the sidelines must change,” the plan says.

Facebook is considering restricting politicians' ability to use highly detailed demographic and personal information to narrowly target would-be voters with ads, policy chief Nick Clegg confirmed in a possible shift in the social network's broadly permissive policy on political advertising. Clegg declined to discuss any other changes, saying the company is still in the decision-making process.