1. Monthly archive
  2. September 2025

September 2025

FCC Commissioner Gomez on Kimmel Suspension and Censorship

We cannot allow an inexcusable act of political violence to be twisted into a justification for government censorship and control. First, an ABC reporter was told that his coverage amounted to hate speech and that he should be prosecuted simply for doing his job. Then, the FCC threatened to go after this same network, seizing on a late-night comedian’s inopportune joke as a pretext to punish speech it disliked. That led to a shameful show of cowardly corporate capitulation by ABC that has put the foundation of the First Amendment in danger.

Speech

Navigating a Wave of BEAD Permits

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Thursday, September 18, 2025

Advocates say Nebraska missed golden opportunity to expand rural broadband

Advocates for rural Nebraska and telecommunications companies are expressing disappointment and some condemnation over the decision to propose spending only $43.8 million of the $405 million in federal money awarded to the state to expand high-speed internet “for all.” These “provisional” awards by the Nebraska Broadband Office that Gov Jim Pillen (R-NE) created raise the prospect that $350 million in unspent funds awarded to the state under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program could be returned to Washington (DC), and not spent in the state.

A Call to the Research Community: Help Build Sustainable Models That Keep Communities Connected

The digital equity movement is at a turning point. After nearly two decades of tireless work by community leaders, advocates, and public agencies to close the digital divide, key federal programs intended to drive long-term progress are unraveling. The cancellation of the Digital Equity Act by this administration and the ending of the Affordable Connectivity Program has left communities with fewer tools and less funding just as momentum was building.

Who Is Brendan Carr of the F.C.C.?

Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, which is the nation’s top watchdog over the broadcast industry, was at the center of a media storm on Sept 17. In an interview on a right-wing podcast, Chairman Carr criticized comments that late night host Jimmy Kimmel had made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

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