Emily Birnbaum

The $26 billion T-Mobile–Sprint deal faces one last major hurdle as a group of state attorneys general look to block the telecommunications mega-merger in court. “The state attorney general lawsuit has a lot of legal and factual merit,” said Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a former state attorney general who has been critical of the T-Mobile–Sprint deal. “No one can predict what the outcome in courts is going to be, but they have a lot going for them,” he added. The group of 13 attorneys general, along with Washington (DC), are moving forward with their litigation to block the merger, which

Facebook, Twitter, and Google defended their efforts to combat extremist content and misinformation online before the House Homeland Security Committee on June 26, but lawmakers walked away complaining that they aren’t satisfied with the tech giants’ efforts. “They’re going to have to do more,” said Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), noting that he was dissatisfied with answers on a range of issues. Rep Max Rose (D-NY) offered some of the sharpest criticism, saying the tech firms are offering “technocratic” explanations while “people are being killed.” 

A group of experts warned the House Counterterrorism Subcommittee that artificial intelligence is not capable of sweeping up the full breadth of online extremist content — in particular posts from white supremacists. Lawmakers cast doubt on claims from top tech companies that artificial intelligence, or AI, will one day be able to detect and take down terrorist and extremist content without any human moderation.

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about data privacy and competition policy, GOP senators signaled they are divided over whether to pursue antitrust enforcement against the country's largest tech companies.

Sen Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep Yvette Clarke (D-NY) are urging the Federal Communications Commission to officially begin collecting data on the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the broadcast workforce, saying that information could "empower" the commission to improve its oversight of the broadcast industry. The FCC's Democratic commissioners have been raising concerns about the issue for months, arguing that the FCC should reinstate the form (395-B) that requires broadcasters to report the racial, ethnic and gender breakdown of their offices.

Telecom and consumer groups are preparing to make a major push for including billions of dollars for rural broadband funding in any infrastructure deal, even as lawmakers and advocates struggle with tough questions ahead. Democratic leaders signaled that broadband investment could be a major part of the $2 trillion infrastructure deal they are pursuing with President Donald Trump. USTelecom, which represents the country’s largest internet service providers, and the Telecommunications Industry Association responded with statements supporting funds for rural broadband in the package. 

Lawmakers said that they continue to have questions after Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft briefed a House panel on their efforts to take down extremist content online. Members of the House Homeland Security Committee questioned representatives from some of Silicon Valley's largest companies in a closed-door briefing about how they deal with white supremacist and bigoted content online. "While I'm encouraged by their answers, we still have a long way to go," said Rep Val Demings (D-FL), who sits on the committee.

Eighty percent of Americans say they support net neutrality, according to a new poll from Comparitech.