Diane Bartz

Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), who will chair the House Judiciary Committee next Congress, gave a hint of what is to come with letters sent to five big tech companies requesting information about conservative material removed from their platforms. In letters sent to large online platforms, Rep Jordan requested the top executives at Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook provide any information they have about contact with President Joe Biden's administration regarding "the moderation, deletion, suppression, restricting, or reduced circulation of content." Rep Jordan and other Rep

The Communication Workers of America labor union, which opposes T-Mobile’s proposed purchase of rival Sprint, has written to all 50 state attorneys general to highlight potential job losses from the proposed deal as well as antitrust concerns. Attorneys general in NY and CA have reportedly begun probes into the $26 billion deal, which would see the third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers in the United States merging.

A telecommunications standards organization - GSMA - said it is delaying implementation of a new cellphone technology due to a US government probe of alleged coordination between the group, AT&T and Verizon to hinder consumers from easily switching wireless carriers. At issue is a technology that could make carriers’ business more volatile. ESIM allows consumers to switch wireless providers without having to insert a new physical SIM card, an identifying microchip. That makes it easier to compare wireless networks and easily select a new service when desired.

Apparently, US lawmakers are urging AT&T to cut commercial ties to Chinese phone maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and oppose plans by telecom operator China Mobile Ltd to enter the US market because of national security concerns. The warning comes after the administration of President Donald Trump took a harder line on policies initiated by his predecessor Barack Obama on issues ranging from Beijing’s role in restraining North Korea to Chinese efforts to acquire U.S. strategic industries.

Twenty-First Century Fox's plan to buy Time Warner could create an upheaval in the sports television world, creating the first meaningful challenge to Walt Disney's ESPN.

Time Warner's board has rejected an $80 billion bid, but Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch is unlikely to walk away quickly. A deal would bring him college basketball's "March Madness" championship tournament, prime time National Basketball Association (NBA) games, and Major League Baseball (MLB) games.

Fox's sports rights include National Football League games, professional baseball games and NASCAR racing. In 2015 it gets the rights to women's World Cup soccer and in 2018 the men's World Cup.

Social network giant Facebook has won US antitrust approval to buy Oculus VR, a two-year-old maker of virtual reality goggles, the Federal Trade Commission said.

Florida and other US states will join the Justice Department in seeking to determine if Comcast's plan to merge with Time Warner Cable is legal under US antitrust law.

"We are part of a multistate group reviewing the proposed transaction along with the US DOJ (Justice Department) Antitrust Division," the Florida state attorney general's office said. It was not known how many states had joined the task force. Separately, Indiana officials were also looking at the deal to determine "the potential impact in Indiana."

Erin Reece, a spokeswoman for the Indiana attorney general's office, did not indicate if Indiana was part of the multistate group. The attorneys general group is focused on broadband rather than cable in assessing the $45.2 billion deal, according to a source familiar with the effort who was not authorized to speak on the record.

The US Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Comcast's plan to merge with Time Warner Cable in April and another on retransmission issues in late March, the committee said. Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said the panel would meet on April 2 to discuss plans by Comcast, the No. 1 US cable operator, to buy TWC for $45.2 billion.