Digital Content

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking comment on topics related to the use of digital “dark patterns,” a range of potentially deceptive or unfair user interface designs used on websites and mobile apps, that will be discussed at the agency’s April 29, 2021 workshop. The FTC is seeking comment on several topics that will be discussed at the workshop, Bringing Dark Patterns to Light: An FTC Workshop, including:

The Supreme Court said Google did not violate copyright law when it developed its Android mobile operating system using code from Oracle, a much-anticipated ruling in the tech world that saves Google billions of dollars in potential damages. The court ruled 6 to 2 for Google in the case, which has major implications for the software industry. Matt Schruers, president of the trade group Computer and Communications Industry Association, said the court’s ruling “that fair-use extends to the functional principles of computer code means companies can offer competing, interoperable products.”

The Supreme Court vacated a lower court opinion that said President Donald Trump could not block critics from his Twitter feed, which since has been suspended by the company. The US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York had ruled that because the president had used the forum to regularly communicate with the public, he could not block critical individual users.

The Biden administration’s point man on the telecom industry, National Economic Council official Tim Wu, is known as the father of “net neutrality.” Now he finds himself in the awkward position of pushing back against the law he’s fought so hard to promote. FOX Business has learned that Wu is lobbying the telecom industry to find what has been described as a “work around” so the service to veterans can be saved.

It’s a cliche villain scene: “Don’t force me to kill the hostages. Unless you do as I say, their blood is on your hands.” While no one would mistake policy fights for a hostage situation (usually), the same principle applies frequently when challenging industry to stop anticompetitive and anti-consumer practices.

Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Sundar Pichai testified before Congress for a hearing titled “Disinformation Nation: Social Media’s Role In Promoting Extremism And Misinformation.” If you tuned in looking for dumb questions, annoying partisan talking points, and exasperatingly squishy discussions of “misinformation” and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, you would not have been disappointed. However!

AT&T Wireless announced it will be suspending its Sponsored Data program nationwide. Under this program, AT&T Wireless exempts AT&T’s video services like DirectTV Now from the data caps of its wireless Internet customers who subscribe to those services. This practice is known as “zero-rating.” All other data on the internet, including from competing video services, counts against users’ caps.

Sens Brian Schatz (D-HI) and John Thune (R-SD) reintroduced the Platform Accountability and Consumer Transparency (PACT) Act, bipartisan legislation to update Section 230 of the Communications Act. The PACT Act will make platforms’ content moderation practices more transparent and hold those companies accountable for content that violates their own policies or is illegal.

Digital literacy is the key component of democratizing the internet. A digitally-literate person has the technical skills to navigate the internet. A digitally-literate person is also media literate, with the ability to critically evaluate the content received and consumed online. Unless we train ourselves, and particularly our children, how to understand and use the internet, it can never realize its vast potential to serve the common good. We must be a digitally literate people. We are not that now. We need to be a digitally literate and media literate people.

The COVID-19 crisis drove digital media consumption to new heights, while traditional media stagnated, according to data from eMarketer. Time spent with media overall increased significantly during the pandemic, thanks to lockdowns that people spent online. Time spent with digital increased 15% in 2020 from 2019 to 7 hours, 50 minutes daily. Connected TV saw a 33.8% increase in usage last year, to 1 hour, 17 minutes per day. Subscription streaming saw a 33.9% increased in usage to 1 hour, 12 minutes per day. Digital audio saw a 8.3% increase in usage to 1 hour, 29 minutes per day.