Lauren Frayer

Despite the seeming ubiquity of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, many in Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and Japan do not report regularly visiting social media sites. But majorities in all of the 14 countries surveyed say they at least use the internet.

Social media use is relatively common among people in Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia and the US. Around seven-in-ten report using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, but that still leaves a significant minority of the population in those countries (around 30%) who are non-users. At the other end of the spectrum, in France, only 48% say they use social networking sites. That figure is even lower in Greece (46%), Japan (43%) and Germany (37%). In Germany, this means that more than half of internet users say they do not use social media. The differences in reported social media use across the 14 countries are due in part to whether people use the internet, since low rates of internet access limit the potential social media audience. While fewer than one-in-ten Dutch (5%), Swedes (7%) and Australians (7%) don’t access the internet or own a smartphone, that figure is 40% in Greece, 33% in Hungary and 29% in Italy

Recognizing substantial and growing competition in the market for business data services, the Federal Communications Commission eased outdated pricing rules to enable continued robust growth in the market. Business data services, known also as BDS, are dedicated connectivity used by businesses, nonprofits, and government institutions to meet their needs for secure and reliable communications. BDS is essential to the production and delivery of goods and services across the economy, from connecting bank ATM networks and retail credit-card readers to providing enterprise business networks with access to branch offices, the Internet or the cloud.

Relying on more than ten years of study of the market, a massive data collection, and a robust public record garnered from numerous requests for comment, the Report and Order adopted by the FCC recognizes the strong competition present in the BDS market. Given that competition, the order finds that legacy regulation inhibits the investment required for the transition of BDS from legacy time-division multiplexing networks to high-speed Ethernet connectivity. In response, the Order modernizes regulation in significant portions of the market.

The Federal Communications Commission voted to reinstate the so-called “UHF discount” until the Commission can address its national television ownership rule more holistically, in a proceeding to be launched later in 2017. The action effectively returns the marketplace to the status quo that existed prior to August 2016, whereby stations broadcasting in the UHF spectrum are permitted to count 50 percent of the television households in their market when determining compliance with the 39 percent national cap.

The FCC now concludes that the UHF discount and national television ownership cap are inextricably linked and that the Commission’s previous decision erred by getting rid of the UHF discount without simultaneously considering whether the cap itself should be modified. The Commission plans to take up both the question of the 39 percent cap and the UHF discount later in 2017. Until then, the action taken today reinstates the pre-August 2016 status quo in the marketplace.

As part of its effort to expand the availability and affordability of next-generation networks, the Federal Communications Commission began seeking public comment on a series of steps to remove regulatory barriers to wireline broadband infrastructure deployment. In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Notice of Inquiry and Request for Comment adopted April 20, the FCC seeks comment on reforms that will help accelerate deployment of nextgeneration
networks and services by removing barriers to infrastructure investment at the federal, state, and local level. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would seek comment on the following:
Pole attachment reforms to make it easier for broadband providers to attach the wires necessary for next-generation networks
Expediting the process for local exchange carriers to retire copper networks and provide notice of network changes

The Notice of Inquiry seeks comment on using the FCC’s preemption authority to prospectively prohibit the enforcement of state and local laws that pose barriers to broadband deployment.

The Request for Comment seeks input on when carriers must obtain FCC permission to alter or discontinue a service.

Continuing its work to expand broadband access in rural areas, the Federal Communications Commission amended its rules to help bring high-speed Internet to locations that are very costly to serve. The change allows carriers greater flexibility in planning deployment projects that are funded by the high-cost universal service support program. Today’s change allows carriers to pay for the portion of the excess capital expenditure with their own funds, rather than disallowing support for the project altogether, while continuing to promote the efficient use of universal service.

The Federal Communications Commission opened a proceeding to identify and address unnecessary regulatory barriers to wireless infrastructure deployment. The Commission’s goal is to promote the rapid deployment of advanced wireless broadband service to all Americans. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) begins an examination of how state and local processes affect the speed and cost of infrastructure deployment, and asks for comment on improving state and local infrastructure reviews, such as zoning requests.

Among other things, the NPRM seeks comment on whether siting applications that are not acted on by state or local governments within a reasonable period of time should be “deemed granted” by Commission rules. The NPRM also examines FCC rules and procedures for complying with the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act. The Commission seeks input on the costs and benefits inherent in the historic preservation and environmental review processes as currently structured and asks what changes could be made to minimize costs and delays.

The Federal Communications Commission today voted to relax its third-party fundraising restrictions to permit many noncommercial television and radio stations to air limited fundraisers for the benefit of other non-profit organizations. Noncommercial educational broadcasters (NCEs) – such as public and religious broadcasters – have long been free to solicit funds to support their own operations, including through program-length fundraising events. However, until now, such broadcasters could only conduct on-air fundraising for third parties if they received an FCC waiver or the fundraising activity did not alter or suspend regular programming. Historically, waivers were temporary and given only after a crisis or natural disaster. Today’s action relaxes these rules to permit NCEs to devote up to one percent of their annual airtime to fundraising for third-party organizations that qualify as tax-exempt non-profits under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, without having to first seek a waiver from the FCC.

The Federal Communications Commission made optional a previously mandatory requirement that compelled the officers and board members of noncommercial educational (NCE) stations to report personal information. NCE broadcasters said that, if left unchanged, this requirement would deter volunteers from serving in these important leadership positions. April 20’s action will allow NCE stations to more readily utilize “special use” registration numbers, which do not require the submission of personal information to the Commission, on their ownership forms.

NCE stations will no longer be required to make “reasonable and good faith efforts” to obtain the information needed to use unique registration numbers for board members and officers—and individuals serving in these important leadership positions will no longer be required to provide such information under the threat of FCC enforcement action. However, the FCC will still require NCEs to submit information about the gender, race, and ethnicity of their governing officers and board members.

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn of the Federal Communications Commission signaled she was not heading for the exit in June. That came in a post-FCC meeting interview in which she sang her answer to the question of whether she would be leaving after June 30. "I've got work to do. I've got a job, baby," she warbled, attempting to channel the Isley Brothers. She was following the lead of protestors who broke into song during chairman Ajit Pai's meeting statement and the chairman's own crooning in response in a moment that alternated between light and somewhat surreal.

Her term expires, but she could serve a couple more years because FCC commissioners don't have to leave until the end of the Congress after the one in which their term expires. There have been rumblings that she could decide to call it quits given the Republican-majority commission she was not anticipating and clearly has major issues with given her ringing dissents to a couple of votes at the FCC's April meeting. If she did leave, the FCC would lack a quorum and could not approve any more of the chairman's efforts to weed whack what he sees as unnecessary and counterproductive regulations and many Democrats see as necessary governor's on industry power. That would mean President Donald Trump would have to move more swiftly to fill the two empty FCC seats.

On April 20, several activists “RickRolled” the Federal Communications Commission’s open meeting to protest FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s plans to undermine network neutrality. Singing and dancing along to a recording of the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up," the activists disrupted the agency’s monthly meeting and were escorted from FCC headquarters. “We’re never gonna give up fighting for our online rights,” said Free Press Field Director Mary Alice Crim. “Today’s protest was a reminder to Chairman Pai and his boss Donald Trump that people everywhere love the internet. We will do anything and everything to oppose his efforts to destroy the open internet. More than 4 million took a stand for Net Neutrality in 2015, and we aren’t going to take this sitting down today.”