Digital Content

The launch of President Biden's Alliance for the Future of the Internet has now been delayed after civil society activists and even some officials in the US government raised concerns that the new initiative would draw scarce resources away from existing fora dedicated to the advancement of internet freedom, deepen distrust between like-minded actors, and undermine the digital rights of those who live in repressive societies.

Verizon is automatically enrolling customers in a new version of a program that scans mobile users' browser histories—even when those same users previously opted out of the program when it had a different name. The carrier recently announced changes to its "Verizon Selects" program along with a new name. "Verizon Custom Experience Plus is the new name of our Verizon Selects program," Verizon said in a FAQ.

Newspapers all over the country have been quietly filing antitrust lawsuits against Google and Facebook for the past year, alleging the two firms monopolized the digital ad market for revenue that would otherwise go to local news. What started as a small-town effort to take a stand against Big Tech has turned into a national movement, with over 200 newspapers involved across dozens of states.

Overseas telecom providers, increasingly frustrated with American tech firms whose apps are gobbling up bandwidth, are pushing them to pay more for it. Any effort to reslice the "cost of internet bandwidth" pie could shake up the entire industry, make new winners and losers, and put new pressure on US tech giants.

Conservatives are aggressively building their own apps, phones, cryptocurrencies and publishing houses in an attempt to circumvent what they see as an increasingly liberal internet and media ecosystem. Many of these efforts couldn't exist without the backing of major corporate figures and billionaires who are eager to push back against things like "censorship" and "cancel culture." It's still not clear whether demand will match supply.

The White House is set to announce plans for its much-anticipated Alliance for the Future of the Internet, a bid to rally a coalition of democracies around a vision for an open and free web.

As Meta, the multinational corporation formerly known as Facebook, and other technology companies prepare for their versions of the coming “metaverse,” it would be wise to figure out ahead of time the rules to be applied inside these virtual worlds. Too often, technology companies innovate first and then figure out the ethical conundrums, regulatory challenges and governance fixes, when it can be too late. Terms of service from Big Tech do not often protect basic human rights.

Sen Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep Yvette Clarke (D-NY) introduced the Consumer Online Payment Transparency and Integrity Act (S.3298), or Consumer OPT-IN Act, to protect consumers from online free trial scams and deceptive marketing tactics. To do this, the Consumer OPT-In Act will:

Federal Judge Robert Pitman blocked a Texas law (HB 20) that would allow any state resident banned from a social media platform for their 

The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a legislative hearing on four bills: