Research

For most Americans, exposure to different content and ideas on social media has not caused them to change their opinions. But a small share of the public – 14% – say they have changed their views about a political or social issue in the past year because of something they saw on social media, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted May 29-June 11.

As part of its ongoing Trust, Media and Democracy initiative, the John S. and James L.Knight Foundation partnered with Gallup to ask a representative sample of US adults for their views on the news editorial functions played by major internet companies. From a broad perspective, Americans credit major internet companies for connecting people and helping them become better-informed. At the same time, they are concerned about their role in spreading misinformation and in potentially limiting exposure to different viewpoints.

On May 7, 2017, the Home Box Office (HBO) program “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” aired a segment in which the host John Oliver discussed the Federal Communications Commission’s “Restoring Internet Freedom” (RIF) proceeding and encouraged viewers to visit the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) and file comments.

The ACCESS BROADBAND Act (H.R. 3994) would direct the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish a new Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth and direct several federal agencies that offer broadband support programs to amend, streamline, and standardize their applications for those programs. Using information from the affected agencies, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3994 would cost $13 million over the 2019-2023 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.

As participation in society becomes largely dependent on use of internet-enabled technologies, internet non-users may seek alternative ways of using the internet. Proxy internet use (PIU), where internet non-users ask internet users to perform online activities on their behalf, is a strategy for obtaining (indirect) internet access.

A study of the causal effects of access to high-speed Internet on sleep. Playing video games, using PC or smartphones, watching TV or movies are correlated with shorter sleep duration. The researchers exploit historical differences in pre-existing telephone infrastructure that affected the deployment of high-speed Internet across Germany to identify a source of plausibly exogenous variation in access to broadband. Using this instrumental variable strategy, they find that access to high-speed Internet (DSL) access reduces sleep duration and sleep satisfaction.

In recent years AT&T and Verizon have eliminated their cheaper rate tiers for low and mid-speed Internet access, except at the very slowest levels. Each company now charges essentially identical monthly prices – $63-$65 a month after first-year discounts have ended – for home wireline broadband connections at almost any speed up to 100/100 Mbps fiber service. This policy of upward “tier flattening” raises the cost of Internet access for urban and rural AT&T and Verizon customers who only have access to the oldest, slowest legacy infrastructure.

For years, national cable and telecom companies have complained that they work in a tough industry because “there’s too much broadband competition.” Such a subjective statement has created confusion among subscribers, policymakers, and elected officials. Many people, especially those in rural areas, have little or no choice.

While highly ideological members of Congress tend to use their Facebook posts to criticize political opponents and support their allies, moderate lawmakers are more likely to concentrate on local issues in their outreach on the platform. For the average moderate legislator, about 54% of a member’s Facebook posts discussed places, groups, individuals or events in the politician’s state or district.

Recent research from Gallup and Knight Foundation investigated how the use of opinion- or behavior-based metrics influenced study participants’ level of trust in the media.  Each participant was randomly assigned to an experimental group that viewed a news article and certain average historical trust ratings of the news source.