April 2019

To demonstrate what makes internet health meaningful for stakeholders and communities at the municipal level, this collection of case studies offers a portrait of a vibrant city working in different ways toward a common public good – an inclusive, safe, secure, open, and decentralized internet. The report examines how people, civil society institutions, government, and advocates – all committed to digital rights – can make our relationship to the internet healthier across five crucial issue areas:

Facebook may be facing a multi-billion dollar fine from the Federal Trade Commission over its privacy practices, but it’s the possibility of mandated changes to its data-driven business model that could be much more threatening to the company and its bottom line. The agency could seek changes in company behavior as part of a negotiated settlement, including limiting the way it collects and handles user data — the lifeblood of Facebook's advertising-driven business.

The Federal Communications Commission recently chose thoughtful and sensible policy reform when an item was circulated to Commissioners to begin a rulemaking that would establish a much-needed and overdue budget for the agency’s Universal Service Fund (USF).  Against the backdrop of special interest groups and uninformed detractors reflexively opposed to any restraint on the agency’s redistributive subsidies, I am proud to lead this effort to inject more fiscal responsibility into the USF. Hardly a revolutionary idea, budgets are precisely what American families and businesses rely on to ma