Daily Digest 8/21/2018 (FCC Net Neutrality Rollback Broke Law)

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Tuesday, August 21, 2018

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FCC Net Neutrality Rollback Broke Law


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Our politicians have no idea how the Internet works

Russian Hacking Targeted Republican Groups

Blockchain and Cyber Threats on Today's Agenda

Table of Contents

Broadband/Internet

Mozilla, Benton Foundation, Others: FCC Net Neutrality Rollback Broke Law  |  Read below  |  John Eggerton  |  Multichannel News
Judge Brett Kavanaugh Chose Corporations Over the Public in a Major Net Neutrality Fight  |  Read below  |  Chad Marlow  |  Analysis  |  American Civil Liberties Union
Cops on the Convergence Beat: 21st Century Rules to Protect Consumers Online  |  Read below  |  Betsy Brady  |  Press Release  |  AT&T
USDA $600 Million Rural Broadband Pilot Will Include Loan/ Grant Combinations  |  Read below  |  Joan Engebretson  |  telecompetitor
Chairman Pai Remarks at Rio Rancho Cyber Academy in New Mexico  |  Read below  |  FCC Chairman Ajit Pai  |  Speech  |  Federal Communications Commission
Capped Broadband Services Generate 12% Less Usage, Study Finds  |  Multichannel News

Spectrum/Wireless

Public Knowledge, Benton Foundation File Comments on Fixed Wireline Competition with FCC  |  Read below  |  Shiva Stella  |  Press Release  |  Public Knowledge
The nation's top carriers in 8 charts  |  Fierce

Platforms

Our politicians have no idea how the Internet works  |  Read below  |  Catherine Rampell  |  Analysis  |  Washington Post
Fake Twitter ad campaign encourages users to be more skeptical on social media  |  Vox
3 Forms of Facebook Surveillance, An Excerpt from 'Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy'  |  Slate

Ownership/Competition

FCC Diversity Committee Has Big Issue with FCC Incubator Program  |  Read below  |  John Eggerton  |  Broadcasting&Cable
Public Knowledge Files Comments On Competition and Consumer Protection with FTC  |  Public Knowledge

Elections

New Russian Hacking Targeted Republican Groups, Microsoft Says  |  Read below  |  David Sanger, Sheera Frenkel  |  New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post
Ten big Silicon Valley money players behind this November’s U.S. midterm elections  |  Vox
Op-Ed: Brett Kavanaugh, the man who created the super PAC  |  Washington Post

Privacy

Facebook’s encryption fight will be harder than San Bernardino  |  Read below  |  Russell Brandom  |  Vox
Google's location tracking could bring scrutiny from Congress, regulators  |  Read below  |  Derek Hawkins  |  Analysis  |  Washington Post
Man sues over Google’s “Location History” fiasco, case could affect millions  |  Read below  |  Cyrus Farivar  |  Ars Technica
Most Americans Continue to Have Privacy and Security Concerns, NTIA Survey Finds  |  Read below  |  Rafi Goldberg  |  Research  |  National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Joseph Turow: Let’s Retire the Phrase ‘Privacy Policy’. People assume it means their information will be kept private.  |  New York Times
David Lazarus: Despite California privacy law, marketers are still scheming to snatch your data  |  Los Angeles Times

Kids and Media

First lady Melania Trump warns of ‘destructive and harmful’ side of social media  |  Read below  |  John Wagner  |  Washington Post
Yes, teens are texting and using social media instead of reading books, researchers say  |  Washington Post
Schools are Mining Students' Social Media Posts for Signs of Trouble  |  Wired

Journalism

President Trump’s war on ‘fake news’ could actually make the mainstream media stronger  |  Read below  |  Jonathan Rauch  |  Analysis  |  Brookings
Mind the gap: Uncovering pay disparity in the newsroom  |  Asian American Journalists Association

Government Communications

Rep. Pallone: FCC Chairman Pai Should Have Disclosed Sinclair Call From Top White House Lawyer  |  Read below  |  John Eggerton  |  Broadcasting&Cable

Stories From Abroad

European Commission drafting new rules on removing terrorist propaganda from social media  |  Read below  |  Ivana Kottasova  |  CNN
How China rules using data, AI, and internet surveillance  |  Read below  |  Christina Larson  |  Technology Review
Superfast broadband 'boosts UK business by £9bn'  |  BBC
Today's Top Stories

Broadband/Internet

Mozilla, Benton Foundation, Others: FCC Net Neutrality Rollback Broke Law

John Eggerton  |  Multichannel News

Public Knowledge, Mozilla, the Benton Foundation, INCOMPAS and others challenging the Federal Communications Commission's Restoring Internet Freedom order say that was not just bad policy but illegal. That is coming in a brief with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, which is hearing their challenge to the network neutrality regulation rollback--the deadline for initial briefs from non-government parties is Aug 20.

That group and the others have long argued the FCC was making bad policy decisions when the Republican majority last fall voted to repeal the rules against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization and the title II common carrier regime that underpinned them. But they also say that decision, under chair Ajit Pai, "broke the law," which is why the court must reverse it and restore the regulations. Their argument is that the FCC decided the agency lacked all jurisdiction over the internet, a radical move that defined the statute, they say. Also in the "illegal" category, they argue was what they said was the FCC's "cherrypicking" of investment evidence to justify their predetermined outcome of reversing the Title II classification. The FCC majority said one reason for the reversal was that Title II had discouraged investment, including in broadband buildouts to rural and unserved areas. Public Knowledge et al. argue that the FCC ignored evidence to the contrary in conducting a cost-benefit analysis that only benefited their "ideological preference."

Judge Brett Kavanaugh Chose Corporations Over the Public in a Major Net Neutrality Fight

Chad Marlow  |  Analysis  |  American Civil Liberties Union

An exacting look at Judge Brett Kavanaugh's judicial record is crucial to understand where he stands on issues of critical importance to the American people. In one such case, United States Telecom Association. v. FCC, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals was called upon to review the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality regulations from 2015. Kavanaugh’s dissenting opinion places a troublingly limited value on the free speech interests of the public relative to those of internet service providers. To rule in favor of striking down the FCC’s rule, Judge Kavanaugh needed to find that the government’s interest in promoting the public’s ability to learn and communicate online, free from corporate bias and censorship, was not “substantial.” To reach such a strained result, Judge Kavanaugh engaged in some judicial prestidigitation: Beyond devaluing the importance of net neutrality to the free speech interests of the public, he also had to elevate the risk net neutrality presented to ISPs’ free speech rights and, to provide himself extra cover, suggest the Constitution’s framers would have done the same thing. He framed the ISPs’ interest in being permitted to engage in online content discrimination as their First Amendment right to exercise “editorial discretion.”

Kavanaugh’s position in United States Telecom would have a devastating effect if it was embraced by the Supreme Court. It chooses the free speech interests of powerful corporations over those of the public. If Judge Kavanaugh had been in the majority in the appeals court, he would have thrown out the net neutrality rules and the public’s free speech interests along with them. Prior to voting on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, all senators need to ask themselves a critical question: Are you willing to accept a Supreme Court justice who values the free speech interests of corporations over the free speech and intellectual freedom of your own constituents?

Cops on the Convergence Beat: 21st Century Rules to Protect Consumers Online

Betsy Brady  |  Press Release  |  AT&T

In Sept, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will kick off its planned Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century.  The timing is auspicious.  Now that the FTC once again oversees the entire internet ecosystem, including broadband internet service providers (ISPs), it should pursue two overarching objectives. The FTC should use its authority to 1) create a level playing field by harmonizing the competition and consumer protection frameworks for all participants in the internet marketplace, and 2) drive regulatory consistency and predictability to benefit competition and consumers through more investment and innovation.

It is also essential that any rules that will impact the internet or internet services not be articulated via a patchwork of unique state-by-state regulations like we currently see emerging.  We therefore encourage the FTC to work with Congress to enact federal legislation that reinforces the FTC’s leadership role in this area and ensures any privacy rules are national in nature and consistently applied to all internet companies.

[Betsy Brady is AT&T Assistant Vice President of Federal Relations]

USDA $600 Million Rural Broadband Pilot Will Include Loan/ Grant Combinations

Joan Engebretson  |  telecompetitor

Individual service providers will be able to apply for loans, grants or a combination of the two in the upcoming $600 million US Department of Agriculture rural broadband pilot program, said Jannine Miller, senior advisor for rural infrastructure for the USDA. Traditionally, USDA has administered separate broadband loan and grant programs and has not had “the ability to package a loan and grant together – now we do with the rural broadband pilot program,” said Miller. Miller noted that the USDA offers both grants and loans to support rural water infrastructure, which enables providers to deploy infrastructure and make prices to consumers affordable. The USDA rural broadband pilot was created in the federal budget adopted earlier in 2018 and targets rural areas where no more than 15% of residents can get broadband at speeds of 10 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream.

Chairman Pai Remarks at Rio Rancho Cyber Academy in New Mexico

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai  |  Speech  |  Federal Communications Commission

As of 2017, an estimated 6.5 million students nationwide attended schools that didn’t have the Internet bandwidth needed to support digital learning. More than 2,000 schools lacked fiber connections. Notably, 77% of those schools were in rural communities.  If there’s one message you should take away from my being here today, it’s that the Federal Communications Commission is committed to working with educators and state and local leaders across the country to close these connectivity gaps. Our top priority is to close the digital divide—to deliver digital opportunity to all Americans. A key part of this work is our Connect America Fund, which provided more than $140 million to connect unserved parts of New Mexico in its previous round of funding. The next phase will deliver up to
$2 billion over the next decade to connect rural America. And you can’t talk about our support for digital learning without talking about the FCC’s E-rate program. I want you to know that I believe in this program and will continue working with stakeholders like you and folks in Washington to continue improving the E-rate program so that students and library patrons get the support they need. 

Spectrum/Wireless

Public Knowledge, Benton Foundation File Comments on Fixed Wireline Competition with FCC

Shiva Stella  |  Press Release  |  Public Knowledge

On Aug 17, Public Knowledge joined Common Cause, Center for Rural Strategies, and the Benton Foundation in filing comments with the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau in response to a Public Notice seeking comment on the state of fixed wireline competition. Public Knowledge contends that as the FCC prepares its first annual Communications Marketplace report in compliance with the RAY BAUM’s Act of 2018, the agency should measure fixed and mobile broadband as distinct -- and separate -- product markets. The Communications marketplace report should also take affirmative steps to address the role competition, or lack thereof, plays in the rural and urban digital divide. Finally, the existing record evidence from numerous recent rulemaking proceedings makes clear that the current broadband marketplace is not competitive. Certain marketplace practice and regulation rollbacks serve as barriers to competition that the Commission must address.

Daiquiri Ryan, Policy Fellow at Public Knowledge, said, “The Commission needs to carefully and individually analyze competition in different market areas to gain a robust, meaningful understanding of what is available to consumers. The agency should provide a detailed analysis of all components of the broadband market -- rather than blending them all together in an effort to hide potential problem spots.”

Platforms

Our politicians have no idea how the Internet works

Catherine Rampell  |  Analysis  |  Washington Post

Here’s the bad news: We can’t trust Silicon Valley to police itself. Here’s the other bad news: We can’t trust Washington politicians to police it, either. Our policymakers are ill prepared to protect the public from those who wish us harm — or even from companies willing to profit off that harm. Case in point ... 

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), aspiring speaker of the House, tweeted: “Another day, another example of conservatives being censored on social media.” He added the hashtag “#StopTheBias” and called for Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey to “explain to Congress what is going on.” The cause of McCarthy’s complaint? He was annoyed that a tweet by Fox News host Laura Ingraham, retweeting a Drudge Report missive, wasn’t immediately visible to him because Twitter said it contained “potentially sensitive content.” As a Twitter executive pointed out, this was due to two factors: The Drudge Report has flagged its own tweets as “potentially sensitive”; and Rep McCarthy had set his Twitter account preferences to hide any tweets flagged this way. In other words, Rep McCarthy was censoring his own Twitter feed, something he could easily reverse by changing his account settings. Confronting face-palming mockery, Rep McCarthy nonetheless doubled downstill claiming political persecution.

Elections

New Russian Hacking Targeted Republican Groups, Microsoft Says

David Sanger, Sheera Frenkel  |  New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Russian military intelligence unit that sought to influence the 2016 election appears to have a new target: conservative American think tanks that have broken with President Trump and are seeking continued sanctions against Moscow, exposing oligarchs or pressing for human rights. Microsoft detected and seized websites that were created in recent weeks by hackers linked to the Russian unit formerly known as the G.R.U. The sites appeared meant to trick people into thinking they were clicking through links managed by the Hudson Institute and the International Republican Institute, but were secretly redirected to web pages created by the hackers to steal passwords and other credentials. Microsoft also found websites imitating the United States Senate, but not specific Senate offices or political campaigns.

Privacy

Facebook’s encryption fight will be harder than San Bernardino

Russell Brandom  |  Vox

Facebook is caught in a secret legal fight with the FBI. The fight, which centers on an alleged MS-13 gang member in Fresno (CA), has been kept out of public court records, but Reuters broke the story on Aug 17. Apparently, prosecutors are looking to listen in on all Messenger voice calls from the target, similar to a conventional phone wiretap. Facebook says it’s impossible to comply because of the service’s end-to-end encryption, and the company is risking contempt charges to prove it.

There are crucial differences in this new case [and the Apple/San Bernadino case], and most of them are unfavorable to Facebook. While San Bernardino used a novel legal argument against a hardened device, Facebook’s case uses a well-tested legal procedure against a protocol that wasn’t built with this attack in mind. Not all encryption is the same, and every indication is that Facebook’s Messenger encryption simply wasn’t designed to maintain privacy in the face of a court-compelled wiretap. As a result, Facebook is facing a much tougher legal fight with a much less predictable result. Also, Apple had a number of important advantages that Facebook won’t have. Most importantly, Apple simply didn’t have the information the FBI was looking for. 

Google's location tracking could bring scrutiny from Congress, regulators

Derek Hawkins  |  Analysis  |  Washington Post

Google is drawing fire from the privacy community for quietly tracking the location of smartphone users -- even when they took specific steps to prevent the tech giant from doing so. Google services on Android devices and iPhones stored users’ location data even if they turned off the setting known as “Location History.”  The move could bring the company new attention from lawmakers. Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) has already spoken out, saying on Twitter, "Google’s relentless obsession with following our every movement is encroaching  & creepy. I’ve called for an FTC investigation into its persistent privacy invasions." Sen Blumenthal and Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) asked the FTC to look into Google's location tracking earlier in 2018, so the issue is likely already on the commission's radar. And on Aug 17, the nonpartisan Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC, told the FTC in a letter that Google’s practice violates a 2011 settlement between Google and the FTC requiring the company to be transparent about the data it collects on users. 

Man sues over Google’s “Location History” fiasco, case could affect millions

Cyrus Farivar  |  Ars Technica

On Aug 17, Google quietly edited its description of the practice on its own website—while continuing said practice—to clarify that "some location data may be saved as part of your activity on other services, like Search and Maps." As a result of the previously unknown practice, Google has now been sued by a man in San Diego (CA). Simultaneously, activists in Washington (DC) are urging the Federal Trade Commission to examine whether the company is in breach of its 2011 consent decree with the agency.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court  Aug 17 in San Francisco (CA), attorneys representing a man named Napoleon Patacsil argued that Google is violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act and the state’s constitutional right to privacy. The lawsuit seeks class-action status, and it would include both an "Android Class" and and "iPhone Class" for the potential millions of people in the United States with such phones who turned off their Location History and nonetheless had it recorded by Google. It will likely take months or longer for the judge to determine whether there is a sufficient class.

Most Americans Continue to Have Privacy and Security Concerns, NTIA Survey Finds

Rafi Goldberg  |  Research  |  National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Privacy and security online continue to be major issues for Americans, according to a National Telecommunications and Information Administration survey conducted by the US Census Bureau. Nearly three-quarters of Internet-using households had significant concerns about online privacy and security risks in 2017, while a third said these worries caused them to hold back from some online activities. About 20 percent said they had experienced an online security breach, identity theft, or a similar crime during the past year.

However, the 2017 survey showed a decline in households reporting concerns and avoiding certain online activities compared with the 2015 survey, which first asked these questions. The proportion of online households reporting privacy or security concerns fell from 84 percent to 73 percent during this period. Similarly, the proportion of online households that said privacy concerns stopped them from doing certain online activities dropped from 45 percent to 33 percent.

Ownership

FCC Diversity Committee Has Big Issue with FCC Incubator Program

John Eggerton  |  Broadcasting&Cable

Key leadership of the Federal Communications Commission's Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE) have a big problem with the way the FCC has structured the new diversity incubator program they otherwise support, a problem they say could "destroy" the program. That warning came in a call the week of Aug 13 between committee members James Winston and David Honig and Matthew Berry, chief of staff to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. They said they were also speaking on behalf of Broadcast Development Working Group Chair Henry Rivera, committee chair Diane Sutter, and committee member DuJuan McCoy.

The FCC Aug 2 adopted a report and order (a final decision) establishing a framework for an incubator program that will grant existing radio stations media regulatory relief if they successfully help minority or female owners to buy a full-power station, or put struggling owners on firmer footing--it only applies to radio at the outset but could be transitioned to TV. The big problem is with the FCC's definition of "comparable" radio market. For example, they point out, a "small" market with 45-plus full power radio stations qualifies for incubation, while a "comparable" market could be New York because it also has 45-plus stations. "This definition permits a broadcaster to incubate a station in any small market with 45+ full power stations (e.g., Traverse City-Petoskey-Cadillac) and, in return, receive an assignable waiver of the 8-station rule usable in any other 45+ market (like New York City)," they told Berry. They pointed out the problem when the FCC circulated a draft three weeks before the vote, but it was not changed, they said. "The notion that a market with fewer than 350,000 people and 63stations is in any sense “comparable” to a market of over 19,000,000 people with 153 stations is new to communications law and broadcast industry practice, and was not a logical outgrowth of any earlier proceeding," they told Berry.
 

Kids and Media

First lady Melania Trump warns of ‘destructive and harmful’ side of social media

John Wagner  |  Washington Post

As her husband continued to rip into his adversaries on Twitter, first lady Melania Trump warned that social media can be used in a “destructive and harmful” manner during remarks at a conference on preventing cyberbullying. “In today’s global society, social media is an inevitable part of our children’s daily lives,” the first lady said. “It can be used in many positive ways but can also be destructive and harmful when used incorrectly.” Her message was part of a broader initiative, Be Best, that her office launched in May on improving children’s well-being, including “the safe and responsible use of social media,” as she characterized it in Aug 20 remarks.  Asked about the juxtaposition of the first lady’s remarks and the president’s round of aggressive tweets on Aug 20, Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s communications director, said she is “aware of the criticism but it will not deter her from doing what she feels is right.” “The President is proud of her commitment to children and encourages her in all that she does,” Grisham added. 

Journalism

President Trump’s war on ‘fake news’ could actually make the mainstream media stronger

Jonathan Rauch  |  Analysis  |  Brookings

[Commentary] Nothing immediately changed as a result of the decision by hundreds of newspapers across the country to run simultaneous, but independent, editorials defending freedom of the press and deploring President Donald Trump’s identification of the media as an enemy of the American people. Still, the newspapers’ action is a significant event. Depending on what happens in the next few years, it might even prove historic—for two reasons. First, the action is collective; second, it is institutional.

After enduring decades of abusive rhetoric that started long before President Trump, Aug 16’s coalition of the willing suggests that journalism is finding its institutional voice and its will to push back. One day’s editorials do not a revolution make. They are another welcome sign, however, that America’s civil society and civic culture retain resilience, despite being severely tested. Or because they are severely tested. Nixon and Watergate wounded up strengthening the institutions that Nixon hated the most, mainstream media chief among them. President Trump may end up having the same effect.

[Jonathan Racuh is a senior fellow for Governance Studies at Brookings]

Government Communications

Rep. Pallone: FCC Chairman Pai Should Have Disclosed Sinclair Call From Top White House Lawyer

John Eggerton  |  Broadcasting&Cable

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) has asked Federal Communications Commission Inspector General David Hunt to investigate what he said was FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's failure to disclose a conversation he had with White House General Counsel Don McGahn about the Sinclair-Tribune merger, suggesting it could have been a "coverup." Ranking Member Pallone is wondering why Chairman Pai did not disclose the conversation during an earlier House FCC oversight hearing.

Pallone had asked during the July 25 hearing “If the President or anyone in the White House discusses or has discussed the Sinclair-Tribune merger with you or anyone at the FCC, will you commit to disclosing that in the public docket?" Chairman Pai said yes, with the caveat that "we have ex parte rules, because this is now a restricted proceeding. We are limited in what information we can receive and what we can put on the record. But consistent with our restricted ex parte rules, we would be happy to accommodate to the extent we can.”

"Even though the conversation with McGahn had taken place on July 17, eight days before the hearing, Pai did not disclose his discussion with McGahn and he has not subsequently placed a record of the discussion in the public docket," Pallone wrote the inspector general. "Since the discussion occurred prior to the adoption of the Sinclair Hearing Designation Order (HDO), Pai’s reference to “restricted ex parte rules” is irrelevant.  Pallone also asked the IG to look at phone records of other commissioners and staff to make sure that they did not have any White House communications that were not disclosed.

A spokesperson for Chairman Pai fired back. “This is yet another absurd partisan attack from House Democrats," said the spokesperson. "Chairman Pai said that he would act consistently with the Commission’s ex parte rules, and that’s exactly what he’s done with respect to the status inquiry in question. Given the FCC’s actions involving the Sinclair/Tribune merger, it is unfortunate that House Democrats are still trying to beat this dead horse, especially after their prior accusations of favoritism towards Sinclair were shown to be false.”

Stories from Abroad

European Commission drafting new rules on removing terrorist propaganda from social media

Ivana Kottasova  |  CNN

The European Commission is drafting new rules designed to rid social media platforms of terrorist content after concluding that a voluntary program wasn't working. It had previously asked tech companies, including Facebook, Twitter and Google, to remove terrorist propaganda within an hour. "With regards to terrorist content, the results have been positive but progress is not sufficient," said a spokesperson for the Commission.

The legislation, which will be proposed later in 2018, is the latest in a series of European efforts to bring tech companies under increased regulation. EU data protection rules that came into effect in May have already changed how tech companies around the world collect and handle personal data. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, which is owned by Google, agreed in 2016 to review and remove a majority of hate speech within 24 hours. The category includes racist, violent or illegal posts. The Commission told social media platforms in March to take down terrorist content within an hour of it being flagged, warning that new laws could be written if the companies did not comply. EU officials said they would give tech firms three months to report back. The new draft legislation has not been released but could include penalties such as steep fines. It would have to be approved by lawmakers and EU member countries.

How China rules using data, AI, and internet surveillance

Christina Larson  |  Technology Review

How do you effectively govern a country that’s home to one in five people on the planet, with an increasingly complex economy and society, if you don’t allow public debate, civil activism, and electoral feedback? Hu Jintao, China’s leader from 2002 to 2012, had attempted to solve this problem by permitting a modest democratic thaw, allowing avenues for grievances to reach the ruling class. His successor, Xi Jinping, has reversed that trend. Instead, his strategy for understanding and responding to what is going on in a nation of 1.4 billion relies on a combination of surveillance, AI, and big data to monitor people’s lives and behavior in minute detail. It helps that a tumultuous couple of years in the world’s democracies have made the Chinese political elite feel increasingly justified in shutting out voters. Developments such as Donald Trump’s election, Brexit, the rise of far-right parties across Europe, and Rodrigo Duterte’s reign of terror in the Philippines underscore what many critics see as the problems inherent in democracy, especially populism, instability, and precariously personalized leadership. “No government has a more ambitious and far-­reaching plan to harness the power of data to change the way it governs than the Chinese government,” says Martin Chorzempa of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC. Even some foreign observers, watching from afar, may be tempted to wonder if such data-driven governance offers a viable alternative to the increasingly dysfunctional­looking electoral model. 

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