Chris Lewis

Friends of Public Knowledge: It’s time to pause to celebrate, reflect, and envision the future of technology as Public Knowledge turns 25 years old this fall! For a quarter century, Public Knowledge has served as one of the leading digital rights defenders in Washington (DC), working at the intersection of communications, media, and internet law to promote freedom of expression, an Open Internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works.

I am very grateful to Washingtonian for including me in its policy influentials list for the fifth year in a row. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this honor comes as the Public Knowledge team, along with many civil society allies, has continued to lead and stand up for how the principles of open technology and accountable technology can work together. We influence, create, and win good policy together as a team—not as individuals.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a unique opportunity today to help close the digital divide by authorizing high-powered two-way fixed wireless service in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band (the lower 12 GHz band). This will bring more upper mid-band spectrum to the market for high-powered, two-way fixed wireless service.

If you’re a person living in the United States without quality broadband, you should be very disappointed in the way your elected officials have failed to meet the following challenge of closing the digital divide recently: 

January marks the anniversary of a series of coordinated protests that led to the withdrawal of two proposed laws in the United States Congress: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). SOPA-PIPA showed the power of collective action, rooted in shared values, to shape the future of the internet. In the decade since the SOPA fight, new issues have risen based on the development of new innovations in technology and the challenges that they create.

Section 230 of the Communications Act has been dubbed the “twenty six words” that created the interactive free expression of the internet: No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider. This simple piece of legislation provides immunity from liability as a speaker or publisher for providers and users of an “interactive computer service” who host and moderate information provid

President Trump used social media to encourage his supporters to storm the Capitol to attempt to maintain his power.

Public Knowledge announces that it will not accept funding from Facebook for any of the organization’s programs or initiatives. The decision follows a June 1 meeting between Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and civil rights leaders to discuss the company’s choice to leave up without moderation comments made by President Donald Trump, including one in which he posted, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” in reference to protests over George Floyd’s death. Twitter, meanwhile, labeled the content with a disclaimer that it “glorified violence.”

If the coronavirus pandemic has taught the technology and communications policy world anything, it is that policymakers have utterly failed to meet the mission of the National Broadband Plan. Although the National Broadband Plan provided a road map and initially tracked progress, we have seen a relatively nonpartisan tech policy space abandon consensus views on the technicalities of the network and the importance of universal service principles.

Public Knowledge supports the creation of a new regulatory agency dedicated to protecting consumers from the consequences (intended or unintended) of tech platforms. The creation of a new agency must be done carefully and with purpose. This agency must have a clear charge from Congress to analyze the entire diverse landscape of tech platforms, not just the dominant firms. The agency must be well stocked with experts in technology, markets, online communications and influence, community building, and the law, and should be empowered with clear rulemaking authority.