May 2018

FCC Chairman Pai on Restoring Internet Freedom Order Taking Effect

[Press release] I strongly support a free and open Internet. And that’s exactly what we’ve had for decades, starting in the Clinton Administration. The Internet wasn’t broken in 2015, when the prior FCC buckled to political pressure and imposed heavy-handed Title II rules on the Internet economy. It doesn’t make sense to apply outdated rules from 1934 to the Internet, but that’s exactly what the prior Administration did.

FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel on Date for End of Net Neutrality

[Press release] Today, the FCC gave notice that net neutrality protections will be taken off the books on June 11. This is profoundly disappointing. The agency failed to listen to the American public and gave short shrift to their deeply held belief that internet openness should remain the law of the land. The agency turned a blind eye to serious problems in its process—from Russian intervention to fake comments to stolen identities in its files. The FCC is on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of the American people.

What Happens in Pebble Beach: Politicians soak up a country-club weekend with the help of AT&T

Democrats like to advocate for the distribution of wealth, and party politicos from the California Democratic Party joined their friends in Pebble Beach this weekend to spread lots of it. Along with AT&T—their corporate BFFs—Democratic politicos from around the state gathered with lobbyists, captains of industry and others for a schmooze-fest known as the Speaker’s Cup at Pebble Beach.

Release of Thousands of Russia-Linked Facebook Ads Shows How Propaganda Sharpened

Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee made public for the first time the full cache of more than 3,000 ads that Facebook said were purchased by a pro-Kremlin group, the Internet Research Agency. The ads, fewer than 50 of which had previously been revealed, offer the clearest window yet into the evolving tactics used by the group as it sought to amplify social and political tensions in the US. The Russian-backed pages initially deployed relatively simple techniques, buying ads targeted to reach large segments, such as all Facebook users living in the US.