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  2. November 2021

November 2021

Conservative media is at odds over President Biden's FCC pick

In an unexpected twist, two conservative news networks — Newsmax and One America News Network— have come out in support of President Biden's progressive Federal Communications Commission nominee Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society], despite a broad conservative consensus against her. If Sohn is confirmed, her appointment would give Democrats the majority they need to rewrite regulations for the communications sector.

NAB CEO Gordon Smith Expresses Concern Over FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn

In response to the nomination of Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] as a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) President and CEO Gordon Smith expressed concern over Sohn's involvement with streaming service Locast. Sohn was a board member at Locast, a non-profit streaming service that transmitted local broadcast signals over the internet. In September 2021, Locast suspended service due to a federal judge's ruling centering on copyright issues.

Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2021

A new report from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), reveals strong global growth in Internet use, with the estimated number of people who have used the Internet surging to 4.9 billion in 2021, from an estimated 4.1 billion in 2019. This comes as good news for global development. However, ITU data confirms that the ability to connect remains profoundly unequal. An estimated 37 percent of the world's population – or 2.9 billion people – have still never used the Internet.

President Biden’s FCC and FTC picks make final pitch to Senate

Ahead of the December 1 vote in the Senate Commerce Committee, Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, who’s been re-nominated to another term as commissioner, and Federal Trade Commission nominee Alvaro Bedoya answered questions from lawmakers on topics ranging from broadband and spectrum use to social media use and antitrust. Rosenworcel told senators point-blank that she had no plans to regulate broadband rates — a concern prompted after she previously seemed open to the option as a way to increase broadband access.

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