Brian Fung

Millions of Americans could soon lose home internet access if lawmakers don’t act

As soon as May, more than 23 million US households––currently receiving Affordable Connectivity Program funding––risk being kicked off their internet plans or facing skyrocketing bills that force them to pay hundreds more per year to get online, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Republican Attorneys General back Texas and Florida social media regulations at US Supreme Court

Social media companies should be treated as utilities such as telephone or telegraph companies, a group of states led by Republican attorneys general told the US Supreme Court. In a friend-of-the-court brief, 19 states and the state legislature of Arizona wrote that the Supreme Court should uphold laws passed by Texas and Florida that restrict companies including Meta, YouTube, X and others fro

More than 20 million Americans enrolled in a federal program for subsidized internet access

More than 20 million US households are now receiving discounts on internet service as part of Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program. The program has continued to gain more than half a million new households a month since February 2023.

Arkansas governor signs sweeping bill imposing a minimum age limit for social media usage

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) has signed a sweeping bill imposing a minimum age limit for social media usage, in the latest example of states taking more aggressive steps intended to protect teens online. The legislation appeared to contain vast loopholes and exemptions benefiting companies that lobbied on the bill and raising questions about how much of the industry it truly covers. The legislation, known as the Social Media Safety Act and taking effect in September 2023, is aimed at giving parents more control over their kids’ social media usage, according to lawmakers.

Zuckerberg weighed naming Cambridge Analytica as a concern in 2017, months before data leak was revealed

Mark Zuckerberg considered disclosing in 2017 that Facebook was investigating “organizations like Cambridge Analytica” alongside Russian foreign intelligence actors as part of an election security assessment before ultimately removing the reference at his advisers’ suggestion, according to a 2019 deposition conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

US House antitrust bills could change the internet as we know it. Here's how

Congress is poised to move forward with a series of sweeping bills meant to rein in big tech companies. In the process, it's creating new questions about the future of the digital economy. That massive tech companies should be regulated more heavily is a rare point of bipartisan agreement in Washington; the push comes as existing antitrust laws are also being tested against several of the biggest companies in ongoing court battles.

Biden wants to close the digital divide in the US. Here's what that could look like

Historically, the government has subsidized the building of broadband networks by offering incentives to private companies such as Verizon, Comcast and AT&T. But in a break from the past, Biden's proposal calls for prioritizing funding, for the first time, to community-built networks. And the plan isn't just focused on building out broadband in rural or outlying areas. Some of the most persistent examples of the digital divide can be found in dense urban neighborhoods struggling with poverty or inequality.

The coronavirus is creating an 'enormous stress test' of America's internet

The US' internet and wireless networks are coming under immense pressure to deliver reliable connectivity as schools and businesses confronting the novel coronavirus have shifted their day-to-day operations out of the workplace and into homes, according to industry analysts and government officials. "This is going to be an enormous stress test for our communications networks," said Blair Levin, a former Federal Communications Commission chief of staff and author of the agency's 2010 plan to improve internet access nationwide.

Trump campaign runs hundreds of misleading Facebook ads warning of Super Bowl censorship

President Donald Trump's reelection campaign has run more than 200 misleading political advertisements on Facebook in the past day claiming the "Fake News media" will attempt to block the campaign's upcoming Super Bowl ad — despite federal regulations that require the TV spot be aired.

Sen Elizabeth Warren escalates Facebook ad feud

A days-long feud between Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Facebook intensified over the weekend as she openly accused the company of "taking money to promote lies." Facebook fired back via another social media platform, Twitter, where the company compared itself to broadcast television stations that ran a Trump ad and are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. The "FCC doesn't want broadcast companies censoring candidates' speech," Facebook said.

Federal officials raise concerns about White House plan to police alleged social media censorship

Officials from the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission have expressed serious concerns about a draft Trump administration executive order seeking to regulate tech giants, according to several people familiar with the matter. In a closed-door meeting in July, officials from the two agencies met to discuss the matter with a Commerce Department office that advises the White House on telecommunications, the people said. A key issue raised in the meeting was the possibility the Trump administration's plan may be unconstitutional, one of the people said.

White House proposal would have FCC and FTC police alleged social media censorship

Apparently, a draft executive order from the White House could put the Federal Communications Commission in charge of shaping how Facebook, Twitter, and other large tech companies curate what appears on their websites. A summary of the draft order calls for the FCC to develop new regulations clarifying how and when the law protects social media websites when they decide to remove or suppress content on their platforms.

Sprint and T-Mobile merger is about to clear its biggest hurdle

Sprint and T-Mobile's on-again-off-again $26 billion merger appears to be on again, leaving the combined company poised to become the second-largest wireless provider in the country. Pending all parties agree on concessions, the Justice Department will approve the deal by the end of the week of June 17 or beginning the week of June 24, apparently. The concessions would likely include the sale of Boost Mobile, Sprint's discount, pay-as-you-go wireless service. However, negotiations are still ongoing and the Department of Justice is prepared to litigate if the negotiations fall through.

Senator Amy Klobuchar: Tech industry poses biggest antitrust problem

A Q&A Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidentional nomination.

President Trump promises executive order that could strip colleges of funding if they don’t ‘support free speech’

A new executive order from the White House will aim to make federal research funding for colleges and universities contingent on their support for “free speech,” President Donald Trump said. The announcement, during Trump’s address to the Conservative Political Action Conference, appeared to target complaints by some university critics that institutions of higher education stifle right-wing viewpoints.

President Trump says he wants ‘5G, and even 6G’ wireless tech. But what is 6G?

President Donald Trump urged wireless technology companies to step up their efforts to build next-generation data networks. The President tweeted, "I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind. There is no reason that we should be lagging behind on something that is so obviously the future," he continued. "I want the United States to win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies.

The race to 5G wireless tech is on. A Cisco report finds Americans may have an early lead.

A new report from Cisco says that by 2022, fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks will power as many as 9 percent of mobile data connections across North America, compared with 4 percent in Asia. The report underscores the substantial work that countries like China face as they seek to out-develop Western nations.

‘These maps are bogus’: US lawmakers tear into telecom execs over spotty rural coverage

Members of Congress are fed up with the state of cellphone coverage in the United States and they weren’t afraid to lodge their complaints personally — with the leaders of some of the country’s biggest wireless networks. As Sprint and T-Mobile went to Capitol Hill to defend their $26 billion proposed merger, lawmakers buttonholed T-Mobile’s chief executive, John Legere, and Sprint’s executive chairman, Marcelo Claure, on the frustrating inability to get a cell signal in many parts of the country, particularly in rural areas.

T-Mobile gains a powerful ally hiring a former FCC commissioner to ‘advise’ on its Sprint merger

At a time of dysfunction in Washington, there’s at least one thing in this town that still runs like butter: The revolving door. Barely eight months after stepping down from the Federal Communications Commission, Mignon Clyburn has announced T-Mobile is paying her for advice on the company’s $26 billion merger with Sprint. The former commissioner won’t be lobbying for the deal, nor will she be visiting her old colleagues at the FCC.

These are the 2019 court fights that will decide the future of net neutrality

Here’s what to expect as the fight over network neutrality enters its next act.

Charter is returning $62.5 million to New Yorkers over slow Internet speeds in what regulators call the biggest ISP refund ever

In what regulators are calling the largest refund in US history by an Internet provider to consumers, Charter Communications will pay more than $62.5 million -- and free subscriptions to HBO or Showtime -- to New York customers who allegedly didn’t receive the Internet speeds they were promised, according to New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood.

California agrees not to enforce its net neutrality law as Justice Department puts its lawsuit on hold

The state of California has struck a temporary agreement with the Justice Department not to move forward with a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s new net neutrality law, delaying a pivotal legal battle over the future of the Internet. The Justice Department will postpone its litigation against California until a separate case directly involving the Federal Communications Commission runs its course, according to court filings. The agreement must be approved by a judge.

President Trump claims that Twitter has ‘removed many people from my account’

President Donald Trump accused Twitter of deleting large swaths of his followers from the social media platform, deriding the company for slow growth and accusing it of ideological bias despite providing little evidence for his claims. "Twitter has removed many people from my account and, more importantly, they have seemingly done something that makes it much harder to join - they have stifled growth to a point where it is obvious to all. A few weeks ago it was a Rocket Ship, now it is a Blimp! Total Bias?" the President tweeted. Twitter did not directly rebut President Trump’s claim.

More than a dozen cities are challenging the FCC over how to deploy 5G cell sites

More than a dozen US cities are challenging federal regulators in court over a recent decision that could give telecommunication companies millions in financial and other breaks as they race to build a next-generation wireless network powered by 5G mobile data. On Oct 24, officials from Los Angeles (CA), Portland (OR), and Bellevue (WA), among others, asked the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to review the rule change by the Federal Communications Commission, which restricts cities' ability to charge for access to public utility poles.