April 2025

FCC Chairman Carr Highlights Wins Delivered During First 100 Days

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr released a summary of "some of the key wins the FCC and its staff have delivered during the first 100 days." Highlights include:

Take It Down Act heads to President Trump’s desk

The Take It Down Act is heading to President Donald Trump’s desk after the House voted 409-2 to pass the bill, which will require social media companies to take down content flagged as nonconsensual (including AI-generated) sexual images. President Trump has pledged to sign it.

FCC Loses the Ability to Levy Fines

On April 17, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Federal Communications Commission doesn’t have the authority to levy fines. The case under appeal came from an AT&T fine issued by the FCC in 2024 for violating customer privacy by selling customer location data.

Amazon Wants to Be a Satellite-Internet Powerhouse. It Has a Long Way to Go.

Amazon took a small step toward its goal of being a global satellite-internet provider that competes with SpaceX’s Starlink and other fleets. Some of the company’s biggest hurdles aren’t in orbit, but on the ground. Twenty-seven Amazon satellites were launched from the Florida coast to orbit on April 28, a mission handled by rocket company United Launch Alliance. To compete with established providers, Amazon needs to rapidly manufacture and deploy thousands more satellites on a narrow timeline.

Whatever happened to the Kids Online Safety Act?

2024 was shaping up to be the year Congress regulated how kids engage with social media, particularly through one bill, the Kids Online Safety Act. A debate about its risks to free expression still raged, but the voices of the bill’s advocates seemed to ring loudest in senators’ ears. The momentum was there. The Senate vote was virtually unanimous. Then, unexpectedly, House Republican leadership—worried KOSA would make Silicon Valley giants remove more conservative content—let it fade away.

Starlink’s got company—and orbital overcrowding is a disaster waiting to happen

On the evening of April 28th, Amazon embarked on its latest venture to rival SpaceX Starlink: the first launch of its Project Kuiper satellites. With 27 satellites now in orbit around the Earth, Amazon joins a growing number of companies working to put more than 1,000 satellites each into space to create their own mega constellation.