Government & Communications

A compilation of research, interviews, and analysis aims to show that while the worldwide consequences of getting things wrong with the internet could be huge – for peace and security, for political and individual freedoms, for human equality – the problems are never so great that nothing can be done. This annual report is a call to action to recognize the things that are having an impact on the internet today through research and analysis, and to embrace the notion that we as humans can change how we make money, govern societies, and interact with one another online. This report is structu

Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey phoned Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and stood by the company’s decision to permit a tweet from President Donald Trump that later resulted in a flood of death threats targeting the congresswoman.

Apparently, the National Security Agency has recommended that the White House abandon a US surveillance program that collects information about Americans’ phone calls and text messages, saying the logistical and legal burdens of keeping it outweigh its intelligence benefits. The recommendation against seeking the renewal of the once-secret spying program amounts to an about-face by the agency, which had long argued in public and to congressional overseers that the program was vital to the task of finding and disrupting terrorism plots against the US.

President Donald Trump lobbed another attack against Twitter on its own platform, calling the company “very discriminatory” and saying “they don’t treat me well as a Republican." It turns out the President was scheduled to meet Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Twitter policy head Vijaya Gadde notified employees that their boss was supposed to meet with President Trump in a 30-minute, closed-door meeting. Later the President tweeted, "Great meeting this afternoon at the @WhiteHouse with @Jack from @Twitter.

President Donald Trump said Congress should "get involved" in a battle against "discriminatory" practices by Twitter that the President has alleged unfairly target conservatives. 'The best thing ever to happen to Twitter is Donald Trump,'" President Trump tweeted, quoting a guest on the Fox Business Network. "So true, but they don’t treat me well as a Republican. Very discriminatory, hard for people to sign on. Constantly taking people off list. Big complaints from many people. Different names—over 100 M.

Brian Lamb, the man who put Congress on live television, reflects on the results and explains why the Supreme Court ought to be next.

The 2019 World Press Freedom Index Compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows how hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence, contributing to an increase in fear.

Now that all 50 governors — including a robust crop of new faces — have made "State of the State" speeches, Government Technology took the opportunity to break down how many touched on various technology topics:

• Technology: 34
• Broadband/Connectivity/Internet: 23
• Modern/Modernize: 21
• Data: 20
• Cybersecurity: 9 

The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Inspector General has issued an advisory to alert Lifeline carriers, beneficiaries, and the public to a number of fraudulent enrollment practices found pervasive across the IG’s ongoing investigations targeting Lifeline carriers and the carriers’ sales agents. Many of these enrollment practices rely on identity fraud and the manipulation of personal information, including enrollee names, to evade the program’s safeguards. The advisory describes simple tricks used by fraudsters to create phantom enrollments.

A Q&A with former Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps.