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A coalition of tech workers in Silicon Valley will demonstrate outside of Palantir’s headquarters to protest the company’s assistance to the US government in creating a system to track immigrants and foreign travelers entering the country. Documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center showed that Palantir, based in Palo Alto (CA), could help create a system for “extreme-vetting” of immigrants and foreign travelers entering the US. The company had also reportedly played an undisclosed role in US Customs and Border Protection intelligence. “We want to make it clear that the overall tech community is watching what Palantir does,” said Jason Prado, a software engineer at Facebook and member of the Tech Workers Coalition. The Tech Workers Coalition is organizing the Palantir demonstration. “And we want to hold the tech community overall accountable for the values that we as a community have,” Prado said.

The Tech Workers Coalition has created an online campaign to support their protests, which are apart of the 120 hours of action in the Bay Area, a set of anti-Trump protests invoking Martin Luther King Jr. in the lead up to inauguration day. The Coalition has three primary demands: join other major tech companies in pledging to never create a Muslim registry, disclose steps taken to avoid government overreach and abuse and if this not possible, dismantle databases that could be abused.

Lawmakers will have a shortened, but busy week, ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. Congress will be moving into its second week of hearings on Trump's Cabinet nominees, with the tech industry keeping a close eye on his Commerce pick, Wilbur Ross.

Ross will appear before the Senate Commerce Committee on Jan 18, following the delay of his first scheduled hearing, which was pushed back because he had not submitted ethics paperwork. The investor and former banker could have a big impact on tech issues. The Commerce Department is responsible for the National Telecom and Information Administration, the Patent Office, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology -- agencies that closely oversee the tech industry. Ross can expect to field questions about the Privacy Shield, the U.S. legal framework with the EU that allows companies to move data across the Atlantic.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler will be taking a job in communication policy at the Aspen Institute think tank after he steps down from the FCC. Chairman Wheeler will be joining the institute's Communication and Society program as a senior fellow. He is the sixth consecutive FCC head to move to the Aspen Institute after stepping down from the FCC chairmanship. "Throughout my tenure as Chairman, I maintained that network providers have certain responsibilities to their consumers, including access, interconnection, consumer protection, public safety, and national security. I think Aspen's unique platform for dialogue will be an excellent opportunity to address those goals," Chairman Wheeler said.

President-elect Donald Trump refused to take a question from a CNN reporter during his press conference, berating the network for “fake news.” "Your organization is terrible," Trump told CNN’s Jim Acosta when he tried to ask a question. "You're attacking us, can you give us a question?” Acosta replied. "Don't be rude. No, I'm not going to give you a question. You are fake news," President-elect Trump responded, before calling on a reporter from Breitbart.

President-elect Trump also praised media outlets that refrained from reporting on explosive allegations that Russia possesses compromising information about him. “I want to thank a lot of the news organizations here today,” Trump said. “They came out so strongly against that fake news.” “I have great respect for the news and great respect for freedom of the press and all of that, but I will tell you that there were some news organizations with all that was just said that were so professional, so incredibly professional that I’ve just gone up a notch as to what I think of you.”

[Commentary] Network neutrality started out at the Federal Communications Commission as a set of reasonable and bipartisan, pro-consumer Internet freedom principles. Of late there has been precious little reason behind net neutrality policy, which is precisely why it is at such risk with the new Trump Administration and Republican-controlled Congress and FCC. Republican Congressional leaders have long offered to negotiate a reasonable compromise with Democrats to define and resolve the net neutrality issue once and for all in law. They have signaled they remain open to a reasonable negotiated solution going forward. How did a reasonable issue become so unreasonable over the last decade? The story is telling.

[Cleland is president of Precursor LLC, an internetization consultancy for Fortune 500 companies, and chairman of NetCompetition, a pro-competition e-forum supported by broadband interests.]

Rep Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, blasted a New York Times column blaming climate change for the plight of starving children in Africa as “fake news.” In a brief House floor speech, Chairman Smith dismissed columnist Nicholas Kristof’s documentation of severe droughts in the island nation of Madagascar as hyperbole aimed at “climate alarmists.” “A good example of fake news appeared in Sunday’s New York Times. It’s a column headlined, ‘As Trump Denies Climate Change, These Kids Die,’ ” Chairman Smith said. “This may be a new high, or maybe a new low, for climate alarmists and their exaggerations.”

While Congress continues to pursue legislation, we think there’s direct action the next Federal Communications Commission Chairman can take on day one that would immediately improve the quality of public debate on pending agency action. And that is to hold a second monthly meeting, during which FCC staff gives presentations on major items that might be brought before the Commission at least 60 days before any vote. This second, forward-looking monthly meeting would provide the public--the real party of interest—the information needed to provide meaningful input to the Commission prior to its decision-making. It would also improve the Commissioners’ own ability to respond to policy recommendations on an informed basis.

President-elect Donald Trump is set to meet with two top executives from Univision after repeatedly clashing with the Spanish-language broadcaster during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump is set to meet at Trump Tower with network CEO Randy Falco and head of news Isaac Lee, according to transition spokesman Sean Spicer. The meeting is a chance for the two sides to mend fences after an acrimonious campaign season. The feud dates back to when Trump announced his candidacy in the summer of 2015, when he made disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants. When Univision anchor Jorge Ramos attempted to question Trump about his comments at an August 2015 news conference, the candidate ejected him, telling him to “go back to Univision.”

President Barack Obama and Democrats are making a last-ditch try to get Jessica Rosenworcel back on the Federal Communications Commission. President Obama renominated Rosenworcel for a five-year term. Rosenworcel, a former FCC commissioner, failed to be reconfirmed at the end of the 2016 legislative session, after a two-year fight over her nomination. Rosenworcel failed to get a vote, despite efforts from lawmakers to try and cut a deal and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's offer to step down in exchange. Wheeler is still stepping down when President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office. Control of the FCC will swing to Republicans, but two of the five commissioners must be Democrats. That has Dems hopeful that Rosenworcel can return, but its unclear if anything will be different this time around. Republicans will likely be reluctant to work out a deal on Rosenworcel with Trump slated to take office in two weeks. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) has said that while he respects her work, he'll wait on confirmations until Trump is in the White House.

Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) will be the new chair of the House Communications Subcommittee. Rep Blackburn is replacing Rep Greg Walden (R-OR), who left the post after being elected by House Republicans to chair the full Energy and Commerce Committee in December.

“It is an honor to have been chosen to serve as the Chairman of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee," Rep Blackburn said. "I look forward to working with Chairman Greg Walden and my great colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee.” “We’ve got a lot of work to do this Congress when it comes to fixing our broken health care system, advancing solutions that empower consumers and small businesses, and valuing low-cost, transformative energy solutions,” Chairman Walden said. “It will be an all hands on deck effort, and I’m confident that the team we’ve assembled will put forth the hard work needed to get the job done.” Rep Blackburn was previously the vice chairwoman of the committee, a post that is now being filled by Rep Joe Barton (R-TX).