While Democratic candidates and left-leaning groups are hoping the push to restore net neutrality nationwide will help drive their supporters to the polls come November, Republican leaders say they are skeptical the issue will play a decisive role in the midterm elections. While studies commissioned by pro-net neutrality groups like Mozilla and the Internet Freedom Business Alliance suggest voters are watching the issue, top GOP officials aren’t convinced. 

“I think if you go survey on the issues that voters care about, it’s number 38 out of 37,” House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) told reporters. “Some voters care about it, yeah, but they didn’t see the end-of-the-world dire predictions come true that the other side said would. What they really want us to do is focus on building out broadband, getting more connectivity, clearing the way for 5G, all those things that will actually connect America.” Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-SD) similarly told reporters he doesn’t “think that’s going to have the resonance” Democrats sought. “I don’t see any campaign talking about it,” he said, adding that it just doesn’t register with “the average person.”

But that hasn’t stopped some of its proponents from throwing cash at the issue. According to a review of political ads on Facebook’s archives, a number of top left-leaning organizations and candidates in recent months have purchased social media advertising calling on supporters to turn out for net neutrality. Most prominent among these are the ACLU and its chapters, which have launched dozens of “vote for net neutrality” ads, and Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX), who launched ads in May blasting his opponent in the Senate race, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), over his opposition to net neutrality. Other progressives like Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) have also campaigned on their net neutrality support on Facebook, while the Fight for the Future consumer group is leading its own “vote for net neutrality” campaign.

There's been a shift in the flow of online disinformation, falsehoods meant to mislead and inflame. In 2016, before the presidential election, state-backed Russian operatives exploited Facebook and Twitter to sway voters in the United States with divisive messages. Now, weeks before the midterm elections on Nov. 6, such influence campaigns are increasingly a domestic phenomenon fomented by Americans on the left and the right. “There are now well-developed networks of Americans targeting other Americans with purposefully designed manipulations,” said Molly McKew, an information warfare researcher at the New Media Frontier, a firm that studies social media.

This guidebook has a twofold purpose. It is a practical guide for digital inclusion practitioners -- local community-based organizations, libraries, housing authorities, government agencies, and others working directly with community members in need of affordable home broadband service. This guidebook also contains recommendations for policymakers and internet service providers to improve current offers and establish new offers. The guidebook describes affordable broadband plans for disadvantaged American households offered by commercial internet providers (or in two cases, nonprofit resellers of a commercial service). Reliable information about these programs -- who's eligible and where, what they cost, what they provide, how to apply, and the practical experiences of getting people enrolled -- is a vital resource for digital inclusion programs and strategies. 

Three of the nation’s four largest wireless carriers are poised to bid in the upcoming Federal Communications Commission auctions of millimeter wave spectrum, according to a new FCC public notice. Millimeter wave spectrum is expected to support 5G wireless services offering speeds as high as a gigabit per second or more. And although some people have argued that millimeter wave 5G is unlikely to be deployed in rural areas, several small rural carriers also are on the list of potential millimeter wave auction bidders released by the commission.

Also among the potential bidders are US Cellular, the nation’s largest regional wireless carrier; along with Cox Communications, Frontier Communications, Windstream and others. Carriers expect to use a mixture of millimeter wave and lower-frequency spectrum to support 5G. AT&T and Verizon already have some millimeter wave spectrum holdings and their initial 5G deployment plans involve that spectrum, but undoubtedly the carriers are looking to expand those holdings. Some people have argued that the short range that millimeter wave spectrum can support makes it unsuitable for deployment in sparsely populated rural areas. Nevertheless, some rural carriers appear on the lists of potential millimeter wave auction bidders.

A Q&A with Sen Mark Warner (D-VA). 

"I still believe myself to be a very tech-friendly policy maker," Sen Warner said, "But I was rubbed the wrong way by the arrogance of the technology companies and the presumption that they knew what was best for everyone. There was this whole idea: You policy guys just shouldn’t worry. We’re a lot smarter. We’ll take care of things. And particularly as we got into the social-media era, there was an infatuation with some of these companies in [Silicon] Valley in the Obama administration. But even in the Obama years, I was starting to see some of what I thought was the dark underbelly."

Later, Sen Warner said, "The social-media companies fight any changes to Section 230 [of the Communications Decency Act] as if it will provoke the complete destruction of the public square. Obviously, that is not the case. Because there have been changes. There have been changes around child pornography. And you can’t print how to make a bomb. Most recently, we’ve imposed restrictions around sex trafficking. Some of my colleagues have been very active in this space. I don’t want to steal their ideas. But perhaps there is a decency doctrine that might be industry-administered. Or is there some kind of mechanism we could impose that would say, if you don’t have some kind of self-cleanup, there will be legislative changes?