August 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE

TRUMP DEFENDS INITIAL REMARKS ON CHARLOTTSVILLE
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Michael Shear, Maggie Haberman]
President Donald Trump angrily defended himself on Aug 15 against criticism that he did not specifically condemn Nazi and white supremacist groups following the weekend’s deadly racial unrest in Virginia, and at one point questioned whether the movement to pull down statues of Confederate leaders would escalate to the desecration of George Washington. In a long, combative exchange with reporters at Trump Tower in Manhattan, the president repeatedly rejected a torrent of bipartisan criticism for waiting two days before naming the right-wing groups and placing blame on “many sides” for the violence on Aug 12 that ended with the death of a young woman after a car crashed into a crowd. He said that “before I make a statement, I like to know the facts.” And he criticized “alt-left” groups that he claimed were “very, very violent” when they sought to confront the white nationalist and Nazi groups that had gathered in Charlottesville (VA) to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from a park. He said there is “blame on both sides.” President Trump unleashed a torrent of frustration at the news media, saying they were being “fake” because they did not acknowledge that his initial statement about the Charlottesville protest was “very nice.” Again and again, President Trump said that the portrayal of nationalist protesters in the city were not all Nazis or white supremacists, and he said it was unfair to suggest that they were.
benton.org/headlines/president-trump-defends-initial-remarks-charlottesville-again-blames-both-sides | New York Times | NPR | The Hill
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UNEQUIVOCAL BOOST
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Glenn Thrush, Maggie Haberman]
President Donald Trump buoyed the white nationalist movement as no president has done in generations — equating activists protesting racism with the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who rampaged in Charlottesville. Never has he gone as far in defending their actions as he did during a wild, street-corner shouting match of a news conference in the gilded lobby of Trump Tower, angrily asserting that so-called alt-left activists were just as responsible for the bloody confrontation as marchers brandishing swastikas, Confederate battle flags, anti-Semitic banners and “Trump/Pence” signs. Members of the president’s staff, stunned and disheartened, said they never expected to hear such a voluble articulation of opinions that the president had long expressed in private. The National Economic Council chairman, Gary D. Cohn, and the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, who are Jewish, stood by uncomfortably as the president exacerbated a controversy that has once again engulfed a White House in disarray. He spoke of “very fine people on both sides.” And of the demonstrators who rallied on Friday night, some chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans, he said, “You had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest and very legally protest.”
benton.org/headlines/president-trump-gives-white-supremacists-unequivocal-boost | New York Times
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THEORY OVER MEANING OF TRUMPS 'MANY SIDES' REMARK
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Jeremy Peters]
Theories abound about why President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that “many sides” are to blame for the white supremacist-fueled violence in Virginia. Some suggested the president does not want to alienate whites who voted for him out of a sense of racial grievance. Others said he was offering his white nationalist supporters a wink and a nod. Yet another concluded advisers like Stephen Bannon must be influencing President Trump. But there is an alternate explanation, one that is espoused by many on the right and repeated on an almost daily basis in the conservative news media that consumes so much of the president’s attention and energy. In this version of events, a violent and dangerous left fringe is ignored by news media that would rather elevate far-right extremism as the nation’s more urgent threat. This view of the left as unhinged and anarchistic has become popular with some Republicans who insist that Democrats still refuse to accept President Trump. And it stokes the powerful emotions behind perceptions of excessive political correctness and media bias.
benton.org/headlines/one-theory-over-meaning-trumps-many-sides-remark | New York Times
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CONTENT

TECH HAS THE TOOLS TO FIGHT HATE. IT JUST NEEDS TO USE THEM
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Issie Lapowsky]
[Commentary] Say you're a white supremacist who happens to hate Jewish people—or black people, Muslim people, Latino people, take your pick. Today, you can communicate those views online any number of ways without setting off many tech companies' anti-hate-speech alarm bells. And that's a problem. As the tech industry walks the narrow path between free speech and hate speech, it allows people with extremist ideologies to promote brands and beliefs on their platforms, as long as the violent rhetoric is swapped out for dog whistles and obfuscating language. All the while, social media platforms allow these groups to amass and recruit followers under the guise of peaceful protest. The deadly riots in Charlottesville (VA) last weekend reveal they're anything but. Now it's up to those same tech companies to adjust their approaches to online hate—as companies like GoDaddy and Discord did on Aug 14, by shutting down hate groups on their services—or risk enabling more offline violence in the future.
benton.org/headlines/tech-has-tools-fight-hate-it-just-needs-use-them | Wired
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THE GLOBAL ONLINE TERROR CRACKDOWN
[SOURCE: Axios, AUTHOR: Sara Fischer]
China announced Aug 11 that it's investigating its own tech companies, like Tencent and Baidu, for giving users an avenue to spread violence and terror. The announcement follows government campaigns earlier this year in the United Kingdom, France and Germany that intend to place legal liability on tech companies for failing to control the presence of terrorist-related content on their platforms. U.S. regulators have largely remained silent when it comes to policing the role of tech giants in distributing terrorist content, leaving the companies to police themselves in accordance to their own standards. In the past, tech companies have reacted to crises in a uniform fashion, but the attack in Charlottesville shows a a split. Some sites, like Google and GoDaddy, announced Monday that they would cut ties to a white nationalist website, while others have yet to comment. Neither Facebook nor Twitter updated their policies in response to the attack, although both groups do already have policies about violence.
benton.org/headlines/global-online-terror-crackdown | Axios
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ELECTIONS

TRUMP CAMPAIGN ACCUSES CNN OF CENSORSHIP
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jonathan Easley]
President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign said that CNN has denied its offer to buy air time for a campaign ad, marking the second time the network has refused to run a pro-Trump campaign spot. The ad, called “Let President Trump Do His Job,” accuses the media of “attacking our president” and briefly displays pictures of news anchors from several news outlets, including CNN anchors Jake Tapper, Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper. “The president’s enemies don’t want him to succeed,” the ad states. “Let President Trump do his job.” The ad also touts U.S. economic growth, the stock market, jobs figures and military strength, while accusing Democrats of obstruction. “One of the many reasons that so many millions of Americans support President Trump is because of their complete mistrust of the mainstream news media, and the president’s refusal to allow their biased filter to interfere with his messages,” Trump campaign executive director Michael Glassner said in a statement.
benton.org/headlines/president-trump-campaign-accuses-cnn-censorship | Hill, The
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NETWORK NEUTRALITY

OPEN INTERNET RULE EXPANDS ONLINE STREAMING VIDEO OPTIONS
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Tom Wheeler]
[Commentary] The front-page story in The Wall Street Journal announced, “Walt Disney Co. just became the biggest cord-cutter Hollywood has ever seen.” The iconic company announced it was starting two online streaming services that will bypass its traditional cable television distribution. Thank you, Open Internet Rule! The sine qua non that made it all possible was the Federal Communications Commission Open Internet Rule that the cable operators cannot deny, degrade or deprioritize Disney access to their broadband service, even when it is competitive to their cable service. This is the very same rule that the Trump FCC, at the request of the lobbyists for the big broadband companies, has announced an intention to eliminate. And the very same rule that Republican legislators are pushing content providers to help them scuttle. The Open Internet Rule – especially the General Conduct Rule portion – is like Disney’s famous character Jiminy Cricket, who acted as Pinocchio’s conscience. As the Jiminy Cricket of the Internet Age, the Open Internet Rule sits on the shoulder of broadband providers to make sure they do the right thing.
[Tom Wheeler is a visiting fellow with the Governance Studies, Center for Technology Innovation, and former Chairman to the FCC.]
benton.org/headlines/open-internet-rule-expands-online-streaming-video-options | Brookings
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HOW END OF NN COULD AFFECT YOUR WALLET
[SOURCE: US News and World Report, AUTHOR: Susannah Snider]
The debate surrounding the repeal of network neutrality has touched on everything from free speech to online innovation and consumer rights. But how will it affect consumers' wallets? The short answer: It depends. Here's what the experts predict.
Your internet bill. If net neutrality is repealed, and Internet service providers take advantage of the relaxed regulations, some experts predict that you'll see changes to how your monthly internet bill looks and what it includes.
Content providers. Without net neutrality rules in place, some experts foresee content providers, such as Netflix, Hulu and other websites, needing to pay more to have their content travel via a "fast lane" in order to prevent slow loading times and other challenges. Those applications and websites may opt to pass those increased costs to customers.
Online research. For those websites and online applications that don't – or can't – pay for access to the "fast lane," it may be harder to access, load and use their sites.
benton.org/headlines/how-end-net-neutrality-could-affect-your-wallet | US News and World Report
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NN BACKERS VOW TO PUSH FCC DESPITE SHORT COMMENT EXTENSION
[SOURCE: Morning Consult, AUTHOR: Edward Graham]
Though they received only a two-week extension to a deadline for public comments on proposed changes to network neutrality rules, rather than the eight weeks they had sought, net neutrality proponents say they remain focused on making sure the Federal Communications Commission continues to hear from the public. On Aug 11, Daniel Kahn, chief of the Competition Policy Division for the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, announced that the Aug. 16 deadline for comments had been extended until Aug. 30. Ed Black, president and CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, said that while a longer extension would have bolstered net neutrality proponents’ arguments, the most important thing was ensuring the FCC actually listened to the public. “Most of us feel that while we’d like more time to make our arguments better, the truth is what’s most important is if the comments would be heard with an open and fair mind and not presumptively judged ahead of time — which seems to be the signals that are coming out of the leadership of the FCC,” Black said.
benton.org/headlines/net-neutrality-backers-vow-push-fcc-despite-short-comment-extension | Morning Consult
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BILLBOARD ADS TARGET REPUBLICANS WHO WANT TO ROLL BACK NN
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Ali Breland]
An advocacy group is launching an ad campaign targeting lawmakers who want to roll back the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules. Fight For The Future, a pro-net neutrality advocacy group, bought billboards in six states to target Sens John Thune (R-SD) and Roger Wicker (R-MS), as well as Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Reps Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Tom Graves (R-GA). The billboards show the lawmakers’ faces with text criticizing their stance and urging the public to call their offices.
benton.org/headlines/billboard-ads-target-republicans-who-want-roll-back-net-neutrality | Hill, The
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INTERNET/BROADBAND

WILL FCC BROADBAND PROGRESS REPORT COUNT WIRELESS=ONLY AREAS AS 'SERVED'?
[SOURCE: telecompetitor, AUTHOR: Joan Engebretson]
The Federal Communications Commission is seeking input on how it should gauge whether broadband is being deployed in a timely manner — a determination the commission makes annually in the FCC Broadband Progress Report. Under consideration is “whether some form of advanced telecommunications capability, be it fixed or mobile, is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” Alternatively, the commission asked for input on whether it should consider an area to be served only if both fixed and mobile broadband are available there. Traditionally the report has only considered fixed service in gauging broadband deployment progress.
benton.org/headlines/will-fcc-broadband-progress-report-count-wireless-only-areas-served | telecompetitor
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4 MILLION CROSSED DIGITAL DIVIDE THROUGH INTERNET ESSENTIALS
[SOURCE: Comcast, AUTHOR: Press release]
Comcast Corporation announced that its acclaimed Internet Essentials program, the nation’s largest and most comprehensive high-speed Internet adoption program, has now connected more than four million low-income Americans, in one million households, to high-speed Internet service at home. The State of Florida is second to California with the most connected households in the country, having connected more than 120,000 low-income households benefitting nearly 500,000 Floridians. The company also announced three key program enhancements:
For the fourth time in six years, Comcast will increase the program’s Internet service speeds, this time from 10/1 Mbps to up to 15/2 Mbps.
To help family members connect to the Internet on the go and save money on their wireless bills, Internet Essentials customers will now enjoy 40 hours of free out-of-home WiFi access per month to the company’s growing network of 18 million Xfinity WiFi hotspots.
Comcast is also expanding its pilot program for low-income senior citizens from five cities and metropolitan areas to 12, including today in Miami-Dade County (FL).
benton.org/headlines/4-million-low-income-americans-have-crossed-digital-divide-through-internet-essentials | Comcast | press release
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PRIVACY/SECURITY

TECH COMPANIES URGE SUPREME COURT TO BOOST CELLPHONE PRIVACY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Andrew Chung]
More than a dozen high technology companies and the biggest wireless operator in the United States, Verizon, have called on the US Supreme Court to make it harder for government officials to access individuals' sensitive cellphone data. The companies filed a 44-page brief with the court Aug 14 in a high-profile dispute over whether police should have to get a warrant before obtaining data that could reveal a cellphone user's whereabouts. Signed by some of Silicon Valley's biggest names, including Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Snap, and Alphabet's Google, the brief said that as individuals' data is increasingly collected through digital devices, greater privacy protections are needed under the law. "That users rely on technology companies to process their data for limited purposes does not mean that they expect their intimate data to be monitored by the government without a warrant," the brief said.
benton.org/headlines/tech-companies-urge-supreme-court-boost-cellphone-privacy | Reuters | The Hill
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OWNERSHIP

TIME TO FOUND A NEW REPUBLIC
[SOURCE: Foreign Policy, AUTHOR: Daron Acemoglu]
[Commentary] Today, faced with serious economic and political dysfunction, we are in need of another round of deep institutional renewal: a Third Republic. We need to coalesce around how best to create shared prosperity. This necessitates increasing productivity — the growth of which has been weak of late — and creating more well-paid jobs as well as finding better ways of redistributing the gains from new technologies and globalization in the fairer way. Redesign antitrust for the era of big data: The role of large, dominant corporations in the U.S. economy has reached alarming proportions. The conventional commercial doctrine is that data are proprietary to the companies that collect them. This needs to change profoundly and completely since the playing field can only be leveled by making data available to all potential competitors. One way of achieving this is to ensure data belong to the people who generate the information, i.e., to individuals who drive cars, surf the internet, and buy goods. Enforcing this principle will ensure that data can be accessed by all, but also that individuals are compensated for the activities that generate information, at the same time as receiving a strong degree of privacy protection. The American Third Republic needs to clean up the influence industry and strengthen the institutional foundations of our democracy.
[Daron Acemoglu is a co-author with James A. Robinson of Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. imon Johnson is the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management.]
benton.org/headlines/its-time-found-new-republic | Foreign Policy
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EDUCATION

BROADBAND AND HIGHER ED
[SOURCE: Gainesville Sun, AUTHOR: Lloyd Dunkelberger]
The lack of high-speed internet services in many rural areas is one of the challenges hindering Florida’s efforts to increase college degrees and spur economic development, a new report shows. Some 680,000 Floridians do not have access to a broadband internet service that would allow information to be downloaded at minimum speed of 25 megabits per second, according to the report presented to the state Higher Education Coordinating Council. Ed Moore, president of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida who compiled the report, said the data should prompt a “hard look at what access there is to digital learning and digital infrastructure across our state.” “You cannot get ahead if you cannot get online,” Moore said. Expanding broadband access and online education opportunities could help the state meet the Higher Education Coordinating Council’s goal of having 55 percent of Florida’s working-age population obtain either a college degree or professional certificate by 2025. Less than 47 percent have reached that level. Moore said the 30 private colleges and universities in his organization now offer 592 degrees and certificates through online courses.
benton.org/headlines/lack-broadband-hurts-higher-education-rural-areas | Gainesville Sun
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August 2017

Will Bunch: Why the looming sale of PHL17 is a threat to democracy

WGN America Looks Abroad for Programming

Consumers Union Names Former FTC Policy Director Justin Brookman as Director, Consumer Privacy and Technology Policy

August 16, 2017 (Unequivocal Boost)

President Trump Gives White Supremacists an Unequivocal Boost

White supremacists and neo-Nazis are praising Trump’s "honest" Charlottesville comments

‘Wow’: Stunned TV Hosts Reacted in Real Time to Trump

CEOs Rethink Alliances With White House

North Carolina governor calls for bringing down Confederate monuments

Black lawmakers say Confederate statues should come out of Capitol