What's on the agenda for policymakers.
Agenda
This spring, five New York City graduate programs ran a course in partnership aimed at addressing the key challenges of our information ecosystem. How does the information ecosystem contribute to the health of representative democracies such as the United States? How do we move towards communities that are equipped with the knowledge and deliberation mechanisms required to address the challenges that face us? How does the relationship between technology platforms, media, governments and citizens determine which voices get heard?
New Zealand. Pittsburgh. Charlottesville. The threat from online extremism is growing and in the wake of these and other attacks, the public outcry over far-right extremist recruitment and messaging online has reached a tipping point. As communities of hate and far-right ideologues become ever more savvy at mobilizing via social media, the calls for mitigating hateful content on the social networks will grow ever more intense. Yet these discussions should be based on data and insight rather than fear and intuition.
After 20 years of corporations failing to self-regulate on privacy, strong federal privacy legislation may finally be in sight. As privacy scandals continue to ravage the front page, and states continue to pass privacy legislation in the absence of federal action, Congress is under more and more pressure to pass privacy protections. Thus far, the conversation has focused disproportionately on transparency and preempting state laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act.
In this webinar, we will take a look at USAC's first funding wave of funding year 2019. Who received funding? What types of applications were funded? What was NOT in the funding wave?
Democrats pitch President Trump on ‘big and bold’ infrastructure bill
Top Democratic congressional leaders pitched President Trump on a “big and bold” infrastructure bill ahead of a White House meeting on the issue, insisting there are “significant majorities in both the House and Senate” ready to act. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E.
Witness
- Attorney General William P. Barr

Looming Facebook Fine Points to a Tougher Cop on the Tech Beat
The Federal Trade Commission’s coming resolution of its yearlong investigation of alleged privacy lapses at Facebook looms as a defining moment for US policy on consumer data, one with lasting ramifications for companies that collect it. A large penalty could serve as an important warning shot, particularly for tech firms that are already operating under FTC consent decrees from past missteps.
The hearing will examine consumers’ expectations for data privacy in the Digital Age and how those expectations may vary based on the type of information collected and processed by businesses. In addition, the hearing will examine how to provide consumers with meaningful tools and resources to make more informed privacy decisions about the products and services they use both online and offline. The panel will also discuss data privacy rights, controls, and protections that should be available to consumers and enshrined into law in the United States.
Witnesses:
The hearing will examine the security threats and challenges posed by the Internet of Things (IoT), and ways to incentivize building more cybersecurity by design into connected devices and the networks that support them. The hearing will also examine the importance of 5G network security to connected devices and the manner in which the federal government, businesses community, and consumers can promote and support increased IoT cybersecurity.
Witnesses:
A legislative hearing on legislation to protect consumers from abusive robocalls