Harper Neidig

Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook will now start showing users more local news stories in their feeds — the latest in a string of reforms the company has announced in 2018.  “Local news helps build community — both on and offline,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post. “It's an important part of making sure the time we all spend on Facebook is valuable.”

A coalition of conservative groups are urging Congress not to support a bill that would overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of network neutrality. Twenty-four free-market groups sent letters to lawmakers on Jan 22 calling on them to let the FCC’s decision stand, arguing that the rules stifled investment from broadband companies. “Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s 2015 decision to classify the Internet as a public utility under Title II was a solution in search of a problem, and disrupted the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) tried and true approach,” the letter reads.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is pushing for a floor vote on a bill that would stop the Federal Communications Commission from repealing network neutrality.  “December’s radical FCC vote to dismantle net neutrality has endangered the American entrepreneurship and freedom that are the envy of the world,” Rep Pelosi said. “Congress must act to reverse this destructive FCC ruling that steamrolled over a bipartisan, decades-long consensus and the will of the American people to undermine the fair playing field that is the heart of the internet.”

Thomas Donohue, the president and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, warned against the growing skepticism of technology giants, arguing that the businesses are vital for growth and innovation. In his 2018 “State of American Business Address,” Donohue said it’s important not to overregulate an industry that is “improving people’s everyday lives.” “This is especially important as a backlash against major tech companies is gaining strength — both at home and abroad, and among consumers and governments alike,” he said, according to a transcript of his prepared remarks.

Democratic senators rejoiced on Jan 9 that they had secured enough votes to force the Senate to debate whether to restore the US government’s recently repealed network neutrality rules. But their celebrations could prove short-lived on Capitol Hill, where Republicans control both chambers of Congress — and can easily scuttle any attempt to revive regulations that required internet providers to treat all web traffic equally.  In speech after speech, though, Democratic Sens mostly sidestepped those issues.

Democrats see an opportunity to capitalize on the massive backlash to the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to repeal its network neutrality rules. The question is whether the outrage on Reddit forums can translate into votes for Democratic candidates next fall given the fact that younger people engaged on the issue are often the least reliable voters — particularly in midterm elections.

Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is calling on the Justice Department to investigate whether the 2011 Comcast-NBC merger has hurt market competition. Sen Blumenthal sent a letter to the Trump administration's top antitrust prosecutor, Makan Delrahim, on Dec 13, asking him to revisit the deal and to try to keep in place behavioral conditions that are set to expire next year.

The Federal Communications Commission is moving forward with a plan to scrap net neutrality rules, defying a massive outcry from activists, Democrats and consumers. “I think what net neutrality repealed would actually mean is we once again have a free and open internet,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show.

More than 80 percent of voters oppose the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to repeal its net neutrality rules, according to a new poll from the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation. The survey presented respondents with detailed arguments from both supporters and opponents of the repeal plan, before asking them where they stood on the rules. It found that 83 percent overall favored keeping the FCC rules, including 75 percent of Republicans, 89 percent of Democrats and 86 percent of independents.

Democrats are trying to pressure the Federal Communications Commission at the eleventh hour to call off its planned vote to scrap its net neutrality regulations. 39 senators sent a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to call off his “reckless” proposal to eliminate the Obama-era regulations.