October 2017

The Solution to Facebook Overload Isn't More Facebook

[Commentary]  In order to preserve our political democracy, which elevates the most popular among us (though perhaps not the finest) to power, we’ll seemingly abandon a total democracy of thought, which does the same for ideas. You can judge a people by how much freedom they can tolerate without destroying themselves. It seems the power for anyone to go viral and attain a global audience, through articulate reasoning or just clickbait-y libel, was a just bit too much freedom for us to bear.

FCC Dismisses Word Net Complaint Against Comcast

The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has dismissed a complaint, filed by The Word Network (TWN), that Comcast had violated a condition of its merger with NBCU, saying it had to make a prima facie case, and did not, and that digital rights are not attributable interests that create an affiliation relationship. The case was resolved by the Media Bureau under delegated authority.

Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim Delivers Remarks at New York University School of Law

With your permission, I will discuss three topics today. First, why antitrust enforcement is such an important part of a free market system. Second, the progress we’ve made in sharing the value of effective antitrust enforcement around the world. And third, a few thoughts on what I hope we can achieve in the future. On all these points, I hope to emphasize the fundamental role of the rule of law and procedural fairness in the application of the antitrust laws. ....

Facebook Stumbles With Early Effort to Stamp Out Fake News

Facebook is struggling to stamp out fake news. The company outsources the process to third-party fact checkers who can only tackle a small fraction of the bogus news that floods the social network, according to interviews with people involved in the process. And screenshots obtained by Bloomberg reveal a process that some partners say is too cumbersome and inefficient to stop misinformation duplicating and spreading. “There is no silver bullet," Facebook said. "This is part of a multi-pronged approach to combating false news.

Online schooling: Who is harmed and who is helped?

[Commentary] Online courses have the potential to improve instruction at every level of education. Adaptive online courses can allow students to learn at their own pace, with material adjusting to fit the needs of both advanced and remedial learners. Online courses can also open up more curricular offerings in schools that lack specialists, such as those in rural areas. Online courses are particularly attractive to school and district leaders looking for ways to trim costs.

How Twitter Killed the First Amendment

[Commentary] In this age of “new” censorship and blunt manipulation of political speech, where is the First Amendment? Americans like to think of it as the great protector of the press and of public debate. Yet it seems to have become a bit player, confined to a narrow and often irrelevant role. It is time to ask: Is the First Amendment obsolete? If so, what can be done? These questions arise because the jurisprudence of the First Amendment was written for a different set of problems in a very different world.

Without net neutrality in Portugal, the internet is bundled like a cable package

Lisbon-based telecommunications firm MEO has been rolling out packages that provide users with data plans limited to specific apps. Customers using apps outside the package will be charged more for data. “[That’s] a huge advantage for entrenched companies, but it totally ices out startups trying to get in front of people which stifles innovation,” wrote Rep Ro Khanna (D-CA). “This is what’s at stake and that’s why we have to save net neutrality.”