December 2017

Critics of Chairman Pai's Sec. 706 Broadband Deployment Review Create #MobileOnly Challenge

The Federal Communications Commission's decision to review what qualifies as high-speed broadband has drawn a crowd of critics armed with smartphones and other devices. Almost a dozen groups including Public Knowledge, New America’s Open Technology Institute, the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) have launched the #MobileOnly challenge. Between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31, participants will spend an entire day only accessing the internet via a mobile device. The idea is to demonstrate that mobile has various limitations that make it not a sufficient substitute for wired broadband.

Chairman Pai's Response to Members of Congress Regarding Affordable Internet Access to High-Cost Rural Areas

On Oct 31, 2017, several members of Congress wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to urge the FCC to take action to ensure the High-Cost Universal Service Fund (USF) program provides sufficient and predictable support to help deliver affordable, high-quality broadband to rural consumers. 

Does Twitter's New Hate Policy Have a Trump Exception?

Twitter announced new and stricter rules banning bigoted content and hate groups from its platform. It also said it would begin enforcing its anti-hate and violence rules more stringently than it has in the past. But “context matters when evaluating for abusive behavior,” warns Twitter, and they have included two big exceptions in the new policy.