July 2023

Disinformation Researchers Fret About Fallout From Judge’s Order (New York Times)

Submitted by benton on Thu, 07/06/2023 - 06:43

Ruling Puts Social Media at Crossroads of Disinformation and Free Speech

Two months after President Biden took office, his top digital adviser emailed officials at Facebook urging them to do more to limit the spread of “vaccine hesitancy” on the social media platform. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, officials held “weekly sync” meetings with Facebook, once emailing the company 16 “misinformation” posts. And in the summer of 2021, the surgeon general’s top aide repeatedly urged Google, Facebook and Twitter to do more to combat disinformation.

State Department cancels Facebook meetings after judge’s ‘censorship’ ruling

One day after a Louisiana federal judge set limits on the Biden administration’s communications with tech firms, the US State Department canceled its regular meeting with Facebook officials to discuss 2024 election preparations and hacking threats. State Department officials said all future meetings, which had been held monthly, have been “canceled pending further guidance." The cancellation shows the immediate impact of the order by US District Judge Terry A. Doughty, a Trump appointee.

We Shouldn’t Ask Technologists To Be Arbiters of “Truth”

Big Tech’s enforcement of various official truths that turned out to be false has undermined trust in both the leading tech companies and society overall. In addition to their own content moderators, four other organizational entities have been used to determine misinformation, disinformation, and so-called malinformation. All four have serious shortcomings:

Railroad industry group claims new Virginia law shifts permitting power from railroads to broadband providers

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) seeks to void a Virginia bill streamlining railroad crossing requests for broadband providers, claiming it shifts permitting power from the railroad owners to broadband providers. The law, which took effect on July 1, caps railroad crossing fees at $2,000 per crossing and requires broadband providers to reimburse railroad companies no more than $5,00

President Biden’s ‘Internet for All’ Initiative, Explained

President Joe Biden announced that his administration would spend more than $42 billion to expand high-speed internet access across the US. The White House estimates the program will help over 8.5 million households and small businesses.

President Biden has a new opportunity in the places Democrats struggle most

As they begin a comprehensive effort to convince the country that “Bidenomics” is working, President Joe Biden and his allies are gleefully needling Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) for celebrating Alabama’s receipt of federal funds to expand rural access to high-speed internet, money that came from a bill President Biden signed and Sen Tuberville, like most Republicans, voted against. It’s not an uncommon story these days; the administration is spreading a huge amount of federal funding around the cou

Private Funding Enables GoNetspeed Rapid Expansion

Announcements of GoNetspeed fiber market launches have been coming at a rapid pace. GoNetspeed President and CEO Richard Clark said the company has been able to do this thanks to its reliance primarily on private funding. “By privately funding our infrastructure, we are able to build at a faster pace with access to additional resources.

$20.4 Million Fiber-Broadband Project to Benefit 8,200 in Lumpkin County

Some 8,200 homes, businesses and schools in unserved and underserved parts of Lumpkin County (GA) will, for the first time, be eligible for high-speed fiber internet. The $20.4 million project, to provide fiber broadband to Dahlonega and throughout the county, is expected to be completed in 2024. It is a result of a public–private partnership between the county and Kinetic. The county will use about $6.9 million in state grant money from the federal government.

CENIC Energy Innovations and Middle-Mile Networks

The environmental impacts of broadband networks are not well understood. The infrastructure required to run these networks requires power, which in and of itself, releases carbon and other emissions into the atmosphere. Hence the power consumption of broadband networks matters.

Benton

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