June 2020

FCC Defers Changes to Form 470 Due to COVID-19

By this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission notifies E-Rate program participants that the FCC Form 470, the form that E-Rate program applicants use to solicit bids from service providers for E-Rate eligible services, will remain unchanged for funding year 2021 to allow schools and libraries to continue to focus their time and resources on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In so doing, we seek to avoid the potential for further confusion and burden on applicants at a time when they are continuing to transition their students, patrons, teachers, and staff to remote learnin

Freedom Is Not Free License: Freedom House’s Flawed Measurement of “Internet Freedom”

Every year, the advocacy group Freedom House releases a survey and analysis of Internet and digital media freedom around the world.

Research Shows Students Falling Months Behind During Virus Disruptions

While a nation of burned-out, involuntary home schoolers slogs to the finish line of a disrupted academic year, a picture is emerging of the extent of the learning loss among children in America, and the size of the gaps schools will be asked to fill when they reopen.

Doomscrolling: Why We Just Can’t Look Away

Primal instincts often drive our obsession with stressful news, and social-media platforms are designed to keep us hooked. “These algorithms are designed to take and amplify whatever emotions will keep us watching, especially negative emotions. And that can have a real negative impact on people’s mental health,” says David Jay of the Center for Humane Technology, a nonprofit addressing how social-media platforms hijack our attention.