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December 2015

Federal data breach notices are catching some by surprise

Some of those who have been notified that their personal information was stolen from a government security investigations database are scratching their heads. That’s because they never had a security clearance. Or even worked for the government.

The government during the week of Dec 7 finished mailing notices to some 20 million people victimized by that breach, most of whom applied for a security clearance, or had one renewed, since about 2000 and in some cases earlier. Those files contain highly personal information such as past legal and financial problems, foreign travel and more. But some people have received the notices because the government used their Social Security numbers to perform some sort of lesser background check. The reason might not be readily apparent. The background investigations breach was the larger of two cyberthefts of government files that occurred in 2014 but were only discovered and announced in 2015. Notices have been mailed to the 93 percent of the 21.5 million victims of that hack for whom the government has current addresses readily at hand. Notices were sent in the summer, mostly by e-mail, to victims of the other hack, involving personnel records of some 4.2 million current and former federal employees.

FCC's LP Spectrum Grab Is A Study In Ugly

[Commentary] When the Federal Communications Commission puts beachfront UHF spectrum up for auction to wireless companies, it will, in part, be selling bandwidth that was offered voluntarily and acquired legally when it attempts to kick-off the reverse auction on March 29, 2016. But it will also be selling bandwidth it will have simply usurped from entrepreneurs, local communities and even churches that use it to provide free over-the-air local low-low power TV without any form of compensation.

Moreover, it will be grabbing spectrum in a way that violates the FCC’s longstanding mission required by law to promote diversity, competition and localism, violates standards of common decency and, I believe, violates not only the law but also the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

[Dave Seyler is currently doing media consulting for LPTV interests]

Shut Down the Internet? How Plausible is Donald Trump's Suggestion?

[Commentary] During Dec 15's Republican primary debate, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump said America should shut off ISIS's access to the Internet. The terror network is disturbingly successful at spreading its propaganda and recruiting via social media. But how practical is Trump's suggestion?

Here's the problem: America doesn't control the Internet in the Middle East. Most of the servers that make up web infrastructure in foreign countries are not located in the United States -- they are based in those other countries. Trump would either have to convince service providers in other countries to shut off Internet access in certain regions or destroy local infrastructure to cut off Internet access to ISIS -- and we're not talking about an enemy who is located in just one country. So basically, it would not be simple for someone to turn off the Internet here and there -- even with Bill Gates' help.

Action Plan to Close Digital Gender Gap

This Action Plan sets out the framework for critical actions to foster and accelerate inclusive and sustainable development by closing the digital gender gap and harness the transformative potential of information and communications technologies for women’s empowerment. Action Areas:

1) Develop gender responsive strategies and policies
2) Ensure access to ICTs by women and girls and mitigating or responding the threats online that hinder women’s access to and use of technology
3) Build digital capacities of girls and women and support development of content, applications and services that meet women’s needs
4) Promoting women in the technology sector, including into positions of decisionmaking
5) Establish multi-stakeholder partnerships

Time for the FCC to Modernize the Rural Health Care Program

December 16, 2015 (Net Neutrality and more)

BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2015

Today’s events https://www.benton.org/calendar/2015-12-16

INTERNET/BROADBAND
   Congress is still trying to block the US from releasing control of the Internet
   FCC Extends Open Internet Temporary Exemption for Smaller ISPs from Enhanced Transparency Requirements - public notice
   T-Mobile Is Likely Violating Net Neutrality - Marvin Ammori op-ed
   Mobile broadband regulation and net neutrality: One network or two? - analysis
   Sen. Dick Durbin Leads Internet Access Tax Ban Pushback [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
   Three Companies Awarded $5.2 Million for FCC Rural Broadband Experiments [links to Benton summary]
   Grande, Verizon FiOS Top Netflix ISP Rankings [links to Benton summary]
   Flat-rate pricing: The Internet has changed and so should our pricing models [links to American Enterprise Institute]

SECURITY/PRIVACY
   EU Officials Reach Agreement on Text of New Privacy Law
   White House Tech Experts Focus on Digital Infrastructure Security
   Former national security officials urge government to embrace rise of encryption
   A key under the doormat isn’t safe. Neither is an encryption backdoor. - Matt Blaze op-ed [links to Benton summary]
   Fact-Checking the Debate on Encryption [links to ProPublica]
   Op-ed: How a 'digital surge' can help beat Islamic State [links to Los Angeles Times]

ELECTIONS AND MEDIA
   Political Campaigns Are Spying on You, and There Are No Rules to Stop Them
   Former Debate Moderators And Network Executives Rip The RNC's "Overreaching" Debate Demands [links to Media Matters for America]
   Trump doubles down on 'closing' the Internet
   Marco Rubio’s Internet policy, explained - analysis
   Sen Ted Cruz Is Right: NSA Reform Bill Allows More Spying [links to National Journal]
   Hillary Clinton Asks Tech Companies to Help Thwart ISIS Online [links to New York Times]
   Debates Help Fuel Strong Interest in 2016 Campaign - Pew research [links to Benton summary]
   These days we watch debates on two screens: TV and social media. And that’s good for democracy. - op-ed
   Terence Smith: Trump and the Media, Mutually Culpable [links to Huffington Post]
   Trump Towers Over Rivals in Social Media Buzz Heading Into CNN Debate [links to Revere Digital]

WIRELESS/SPECTRUM
   FCC: “There are no plans to auction or otherwise repurpose additional spectrum in the TV band" [links to Broadcasting&Cable]

TELEVISION
   NAB tells court to overturn FCC's decision to presume cable operators are subject to local market competition [links to Broadcasting&Cable]
   Cablevision Settles Set-Top Suit [links to Multichannel News]

CONTENT
   Senate approves bill protecting negative online reviews [links to Benton summary]

ADVERTISING
   Google Says Search Intent Matters More for Marketers Than Users' Identity

OWNERSHIP
   Justice Department Requires AMC Entertainment to Divest Two Movie Theaters in Order to Complete Acquisition of Starplex Cinemas [links to Department of Justice]

AGENDA
   FCC Releases Agenda of Major and Other Significant Proceedings [links to Federal Communications Commission]

COMPANY NEWS
   Comcast CEO to angry customers: It’s not me, it’s you - press release [links to Benton summary]

STORIES FROM ABROAD
   EU Officials Reach Agreement on Text of New Privacy Law
   Facebook, Google, Twitter agree to delete hate speech in 24 hours: Germany
   When Does Hate Speech Cross the Line on Social Media? - analysis [links to Benton summary]
   Police in UK arrest man in connection with massive hack against toymaker VTech [links to Washington Post]

MORE ONLINE
   What do people think about video games and who plays them? [links to Pew Internet]

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INTERNET/BROADBAND

CONGRESS AND ICANN
[SOURCE: The Verge, AUTHOR: TC Sottek]
Republican leaders in Congress released a $1.15 trillion budget proposal. It's a massive bill with several huge points of contention, including tax breaks and military spending, but nestled within its 2,009 pages is a small provision that could frustrate attempts to loosen the country's grip on governance of the web. The proposal seems to address Republican concerns of an international takeover of the Internet by prohibiting any governmental organizations from exercising oversight. But despite the proposal, the 2016 funding bill prohibits the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) from spending any money "to relinquish the responsibility of the [NTIA]... with respect to internet domain name system functions," through next year. It's the same language Congress passed in its last omnibus spending bill, which blocked the NTIA from taking action until September 30th, 2015. Congress' effort to block the handover may end up being moot since it looks like the government will need a lot of time to study it; the NTIA says it could take until late 2016 to complete an evaluation process, and it has already renewed its relationship with ICANN through September 30th, 2016 — the same day Congress' proposed budget would expire.
benton.org/headlines/congress-still-trying-block-us-releasing-control-internet | Verge, The
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FCC’S LATEST OPEN INTERNET DECISION
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Alison Kutler]
The Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau finds that at this time it cannot fully evaluate the impact of removing the temporary exemption for smaller broadband Internet access service providers from the enhancements to the Open Internet transparency rule previously adopted by the Commission in the 2015 Open Internet Order. To avoid acting prematurely in advance of Office of Management and Budget approval, CGB therefore extends the temporary exemption for smaller providers until December 15, 2016. At that time, we expect that the approval process will be complete and that the full Commission will be able to consider whether and, if so, how best to extend the temporary exemption from the enhanced transparency requirements with the benefit of more complete information. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, ““At the heart of this issue is the right of broadband customers, including the nearly 7 million customers of these exempt providers, to have access to essential information about their service—while at the same time ensuring the Bureau is able to conduct a thorough fact-based review. It’s also important to remember that all providers of broadband Internet service, including small providers, are already subject to the existing transparency rules adopted in 2010. Next December, I will present to the full Commission for their decision the facts, which are being developed, so they may make an informed decision on the policy issues.”
FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly said, “temporarily extending the small broadband provider exemption is a monumental mistake in judgement and a missed opportunity to restore a bit of credibility and rationality. We all know that smaller providers never had the imaginary market power envisioned by the Commission, and they shouldn’t have to comply now or in the future with burdensome requirements that divert limited resources from broadband deployment and provide no real value to consumers. I am equally troubled that I was precluded from voting on this item as the majority of the Commission delegated it to the Bureau, reducing its own transparency and accountability.”
benton.org/headlines/fcc-extends-open-internet-temporary-exemption-smaller-isps-enhanced-transparency | Federal Communications Commission | Chairman Wheeler | Commissioner O'Rielly
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T-MOBILE IS LIKELY VIOLATING NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Marvin Ammori]
[Commentary] Recently, T-Mobile announced that subscribers on plans with caps of 3 GB and more would be automatically enrolled in a product called Binge On. That service is best known for exempting some video services, such as Netflix, from users’ monthly data allotments, but not others, like YouTube, TwitchTV, or Vimeo. In response, many people suggested that this could violate network neutrality -- because T-Mobile is discriminating in exempting some applications from data caps. When it introduced Binge On, T-Mobile also decided to reduce the technical quality of (or “throttle”) all video on its network for subscribers within all data plans. Specifically, while an app like YouTube may send HD-quality streams, T-Mobile is reducing the stream to DVD quality -- a quality also known as “not HD.” T-Mobile throttles this video whether or not the video provider is a Binge On data partner, and it does so for every user except those who specifically opt-out online or through a call. Degrading video quality this way violates the Federal Communications Commission’s no-throttling part of the net neutrality rule, which forbids reducing the quality of an application or an entire class of applications. Even though T-Mobile and its brilliant CEO, John Legere, have done much to shake up the mobile industry in positive ways, this is one practice that the company should, and probably must, abandon.
[Marvin Ammori is an affiliate scholar at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet Society]
benton.org/headlines/t-mobile-likely-violating-net-neutrality | Slate
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MOBILE BROADBAND REGULATION AND NET NEUTRALITY: ONE NETWORK OR TWO?
[SOURCE: Brookings, AUTHOR: Stuart Brotman]
[Commentary] As we move into 2016, an unresolved national communications policy dilemma remains: whether the public switched telephone network and the Internet are parallel systems or parts of a larger ubiquitous network environment. Determining which characterization will be followed has profound consequences for regulatory treatment, as an important recent oral argument in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit made clear. Given the emerging dominance of mobile over fixed service, if the Federal Communications Commission can’t regulate both, it may win the battle but lose the war. Given that a further appeal is likely regardless of which side prevails, including possible review by the US Supreme Court, Congress may find itself re-emerging as the best source of guidance for the FCC. Legislative action can definitively clarify whether Congress intends for the telephone network and Internet to be joined at the hip, or should continue to function in parallel with differing regulatory treatment.
benton.org/headlines/mobile-broadband-regulation-and-net-neutrality-one-network-or-two | Brookings
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SECURITY/PRIVACY

WHITE HOUSE TECH EXPERTS FOCUS ON DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Gary Arlen]
Two top White House technology experts, speaking at a seminar on "The Future of U.S. Digital Infrastructure," emphasized the primacy of security and privacy protections as critical to future build-outs and upgrades of digital infrastructure. They and their fellow panelists also offered various perspectives on the evolving competitive landscape, including the role that Google Fiber and emerging wireless broadband technology will play. Federal chief information officer Tony Scott cited the "relentless pressure" for "digital development." But he suggested that industry is short-sighted just to "put stuff in and leave it until it breaks." He singled out the push for Internet of Things services, warning that today's system is "not designed for the kinds of cybersecurity issues [we'll] face." Thomas Kalil, deputy director of policy for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, urged federal agencies and departments to rethink their propensity to cling to legacy systems. The systems in place at agencies and departments aren't going to last forever, and government needs to adopt a cycle of constant refresh, Scott said.
benton.org/headlines/white-house-tech-experts-focus-digital-infrastructure-security | Multichannel News
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FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICIALS URGE GOVERNMENT TO EMBRACE RISE OF ENCRYPTION
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
A number of former senior national security officials are urging that the government embrace the move to strong encryption by tech companies -- even if it means law enforcement will be unable to monitor some phone calls and text messages in terrorism and criminal investigations. In so doing, they are taking a position at odds with their colleagues inside government, including FBI Director James Comey. US officials argue that without access to such data, they may miss critical evidence of a terrorist plot or a murder or kidnapping. But these former officials -- previously at the National Security Agency, the CIA, the Pentagon and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence -- are saying that there are larger, strategic national and economic security imperatives that outweigh law enforcement’s operational needs. And they say that recent terrorist attacks in Paris and in San Bernardino (CA) have not changed their views.
benton.org/headlines/former-national-security-officials-urge-government-embrace-rise-encryption | Washington Post
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ELECTIONS AND MEDIA

POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS ARE SPYING ON YOU, AND THERE ARE NO RULES TO STOP THEM
[SOURCE: National Journal, AUTHOR: Brendan Sasso]
If Internet companies like Google or Facebook mislead users and violate their privacy, they can find themselves in trouble with federal regulators. If government agencies spy on people without the proper authorization, they can get slapped down by a judge. Political campaigns, however, face no such hurdles when it comes to scraping information from private citizens. Instead, they operate in a legal dead zone outside the reach of federal regulators. In recent years, campaigns have become increasingly aggressive in their efforts to build psychological profiles on millions of potential voters. "There are no limits, and there should be," said Jeff Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a privacy advocacy group. "Do you really want the Left or the Right to have a dossier about you to figure out how to manipulate you?" While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed alarm about government surveillance and corporate data mining, it seems unlikely that Congress will crack down on political campaigns anytime soon. "There's a huge conflict of interest because members of Congress and political groups are all using these tactics," Chester said.
benton.org/headlines/political-campaigns-are-spying-you-and-there-are-no-rules-stop-them | National Journal
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TRUMP ON CLOSING INTERNET
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: David McCabe]
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump doubled down on his comments that he would support "closing that Internet up in some way." "I would certainly be open to closing areas where we are at war with somebody," he said at the GOP primary debate when asked specifically if he supported closing or shutting down access to parts of the Internet. "I sure as hell don't want to let people who want to kill us and kill our nation use our Internet. Yes sir, I am." As in the past, he did not say how he would limit access to the Internet for members of groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He would say only that he would turn to experts at private sector tech companies to address the issue. "ISIS is recruiting through the Internet," Trump continued. "What I wanted to do is get our brilliant people from Silicon Valley and other places and figure out a way that ISIS cannot do what they're doing."
benton.org/headlines/trump-doubles-down-closing-internet | Hill, The | WashPost
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MARCO RUBIO'S INTERNET POLICY, EXPLAINED
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Brian Fung]
On Dec 11, Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL) attached his name to a letter that attacked federal regulators over their attempts to help towns and cities set up their own, publicly run Internet providers. Sen Rubio's renewed opposition to city-run Internet service draws greater attention to his stance on Internet policy, just as the GOP presidential candidates gear up for another televised debate. While much of Dec 15's forum in Las Vegas (NV) will likely focus on national security, Sen Rubio is one of the few White House contenders to have laid out a concrete position on technology issues. Should he become the GOP nominee, his views on the Internet -- and how it should be maintained -- will become increasingly relevant. Sen Rubio's stance against a public option for Internet dovetails with his broader approach to Internet policy, which can be summed up in two points: Limit Washington's power over communications providers, and transfer federally owned airwaves to private wireless carriers so that they can upgrade their mobile Internet networks. He opposes the Federal Communications Commission's decision to regulate Internet providers with telephone-style rules, under net neutrality. And he wants government agencies to give up more spectrum -- the stuff that carries your cellphone calls and data -- to companies without restrictions or conditions.
benton.org/headlines/marco-rubios-internet-policy-explained | Washington Post
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SECOND SCREENING DEBATES: GOOD FOR DEMOCRACY
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Christian Vaccari, Andrew Chadwick, Ben O'Loughlin]
[Commentary] As the Republican presidential hopefuls prepare for their last 2015 debate in Las Vegas (NV) tonight, and the Democratic candidates for Dec 18 in New Hampshire, many Americans are preparing to watch on two screens. They’ll watch the candidates, live, on television -- and they’ll watch social media commentary on another device, right alongside. That “dual screening” is becoming the norm. Does it change how we relate to politics? Yes, it does. In our recently published study in the Journal of Communication we found that people who use social media to discuss broadcast election debates online are more likely to become engaged in politics as a result. Citizens’ discussions of political events on social media may be chaotic and at times unruly. But big broadcast media events now combine with social media discussion in ways that can be positive for democracy.
[Cristian Vaccari is reader in politics, Andrew Chadwick is professor of political science and Ben O’Loughlin is professor of international relations in the New Political Communication Unit in the department of politics and international relations at Royal Holloway, University of London]
benton.org/headlines/these-days-we-watch-debates-two-screens-tv-and-social-media-and-thats-good-democracy | Washington Post
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ADVERTISING

GOOGLE SAYS SEARCH INTENT MATTERS MORE FOR MARKETERS THAN USERS' IDENTITY
[SOURCE: AdWeek, AUTHOR: Marty Swant]
Anyone has a stake in keeping you searching, it's Google. So it make sense that the company's focusing at least as much on learning what users want as it is on who they are. Now the company has more data to back up that approach. According to research Google commissioned from Millward Brown Digital, demographics don't always align with user intent. In fact, marketers could be missing as much as 70 percent of potential mobile shoppers by not understanding what they're searching for at any given time. Google says those points in time, or "micro-moments," are key to winning over people's minds -- and their money. The company says 82 percent of smartphone users now turn to their phones to help them make purchasing decisions while they're in a store. Google's vice president of marketing, Lisa Gevelber, described it like this: "Intent beats identity. Immediacy trumps loyalty." Google has been working with a number of brands during the second half of the year to try and find unique ways to use search data and maps to sync with shoppers at just the right time.
benton.org/headlines/google-says-search-intent-matters-more-marketers-users-identity | AdWeek
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STORIES FROM ABROAD

EU OFFICIALS REACH AGREEMENT ON TEXT OF NEW PRIVACY LAW
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Sam Schechner]
European Union officials reached agreement on a pan-European digital-privacy law, creating a strict new legal framework that will have ripple effects globally on how companies can use individuals’ personal information. After nearly four years of haggling and lobbying, negotiators agreed late on Dec 15 on a final text of the EU-wide bill, which will replace a patchwork of 28 different sets of national privacy laws, and boost the bloc’s paltry privacy penalties to potentially billions of euros, EU officials said. Under the agreed text, fines would rise to a maximum of 4 percent of a company’s world-wide revenue, the officials added. The text, which must be definitively approved by the European Parliament and EU governments before going into effect in two years’ time, is expected to tighten rules for getting online consent and create new responsibilities for cloud-services companies. It is also expected to tightly restrict how analytics and advertising companies can re-use data harvested from individuals for example after they purchased a product or signed up for a service. The agreement on the new law kicks off a new phase of fighting between regulators and companies over how to best tackle the vast amount of personal information that individuals generate when they do anything from visiting a website to walking past a Wi-Fi hot spot. Privacy advocates hope Europe will become a model for the rest of the word, while some tech executives say the EU’s new rules will hobble their businesses.
benton.org/headlines/eu-officials-reach-agreement-text-new-privacy-law | Wall Street Journal
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FACEBOOK, GOOGLE, TWITTER AGREE TO DELETE HATE SPEECH IN 24 HOURS: GERMANY
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Oliver Ellrodt]
German officials said on Dec 15 that Facebook, Google and Twitter have agreed to delete hate speech from their websites within 24 hours, a new step in the fight against rising online racism following the refugee crisis. The government has been trying to get social platforms to crack down on the rise in anti-foreigner comments in German on the web as the country struggles to cope with an influx of more than 1 million refugees in 2015. The new agreement makes it easier for users and anti-racism groups to report hate speech to specialist teams at the three companies, German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said. "When the limits of free speech are trespassed, when it is about criminal expressions, sedition, incitement to carry out criminal offences that threaten people, such content has to be deleted from the net," Maas said. "And we agree that as a rule this should be possible within 24 hours."
benton.org/headlines/facebook-google-twitter-agree-delete-hate-speech-24-hours-germany | Reuters
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FCC Extends Open Internet Temporary Exemption for Smaller ISPs from Enhanced Transparency Requirements

The Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau finds that at this time it cannot fully evaluate the impact of removing the temporary exemption for smaller broadband Internet access service providers from the enhancements to the Open Internet transparency rule previously adopted by the Commission in the 2015 Open Internet Order. To avoid acting prematurely in advance of Office of Management and Budget approval, CGB therefore extends the temporary exemption for smaller providers until December 15, 2016. At that time, we expect that the approval process will be complete and that the full Commission will be able to consider whether and, if so, how best to extend the temporary exemption from the enhanced transparency requirements with the benefit of more complete information.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, “At the heart of this issue is the right of broadband customers, including the nearly 7 million customers of these exempt providers, to have access to essential information about their service—while at the same time ensuring the Bureau is able to conduct a thorough fact-based review. It’s also important to remember that all providers of broadband Internet service, including small providers, are already subject to the existing transparency rules adopted in 2010. Next December, I will present to the full Commission for their decision the facts, which are being developed, so they may make an informed decision on the policy issues.”

FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly said, “temporarily extending the small broadband provider exemption is a monumental mistake in judgement and a missed opportunity to restore a bit of credibility and rationality. We all know that smaller providers never had the imaginary market power envisioned by the Commission, and they shouldn’t have to comply now or in the future with burdensome requirements that divert limited resources from broadband deployment and provide no real value to consumers. I am equally troubled that I was precluded from voting on this item as the majority of the Commission delegated it to the Bureau, reducing its own transparency and accountability.”

Congress is still trying to block the US from releasing control of the Internet

Republican leaders in Congress released a $1.15 trillion budget proposal. It's a massive bill with several huge points of contention, including tax breaks and military spending, but nestled within its 2,009 pages is a small provision that could frustrate attempts to loosen the country's grip on governance of the web.

The proposal seems to address Republican concerns of an international takeover of the Internet by prohibiting any governmental organizations from exercising oversight. But despite the proposal, the 2016 funding bill prohibits the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) from spending any money "to relinquish the responsibility of the [NTIA]... with respect to internet domain name system functions," through next year. It's the same language Congress passed in its last omnibus spending bill, which blocked the NTIA from taking action until September 30th, 2015. Congress' effort to block the handover may end up being moot since it looks like the government will need a lot of time to study it; the NTIA says it could take until late 2016 to complete an evaluation process, and it has already renewed its relationship with ICANN through September 30th, 2016 — the same day Congress' proposed budget would expire.

Trump doubles down on 'closing' the Internet

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump doubled down on his comments that he would support "closing that Internet up in some way."

"I would certainly be open to closing areas where we are at war with somebody," he said at the GOP primary debate when asked specifically if he supported closing or shutting down access to parts of the Internet. "I sure as hell don't want to let people who want to kill us and kill our nation use our Internet. Yes sir, I am." As in the past, he did not say how he would limit access to the Internet for members of groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He would say only that he would turn to experts at private sector tech companies to address the issue. "ISIS is recruiting through the Internet," Trump continued. "What I wanted to do is get our brilliant people from Silicon Valley and other places and figure out a way that ISIS cannot do what they're doing."

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