Daily Digest 1/21/2025 (Cecile Richards)

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society
Table of Contents

News From the White House

Restoring Freedom Of Speech And Ending Federal Censorship  |  Read below  |  President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House
Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing  |  Read below  |  President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House
Establishing And Implementing The President’s “Department Of Government Efficiency”  |  Read below  |  President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House
     See also: Ramaswamy Will Bow Out of Department of Government Efficiency and Run for Governor in Ohio  |  New York Times
                     Editorial | DOGE’s Challenge Is Gargantuan  |  Wall Street Journal
Application Of Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act To TikTok  |  Read below  |  President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House
Regulatory Freeze Pending Review  |  Read below  |  President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House
Hiring Freeze  |  Read below  |  President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House
Return to In-Person Work  |  Read below  |  President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House
President Trump Rescinds many Biden Executive Orders  |  White House
Trump’s executive orders already face pushback, legal challenges  |  Washington Post
Can Trump’s executive orders be overturned? Here’s how they work.  |  Washington Post
Here are the executive actions and orders PresidentTrump signed on Day 1  |  Washington Post
Startup America  |  Read below  |  Jim Vandehei, Mike Allen  |  Axios
Trump’s digital populism takes the stage  |  Read below  |  Derek Robertson  |  Politico

Policymakers

Sen Marco Rubio Is Confirmed by Senate as Secretary of State  |  New York Times
Cabinet and Cabinet Level Appointments  |  White House
President Trump Makes Sub-Cabinet Appointments  |  Read below  |  President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House
President Trump taps Jeremy Pelter as Acting Leader of the Department of Commerce  |  Read below  |  President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House
Karin O'Leary is now the Acting Head of the NTIA  |  Read below  |  National Telecommunication and Information Administration
President Trump taps Gary Washington as Acting Leader of the Department of Agriculture  |  Read below  |  President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House
Designation of Chairmen and Acting Chairmen  |  Read below  |  President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House
Carr Issues Statement on Designation as Chairman of the FCC by President Trump  |  Read below  |  FCC Chairman Brendan Carr  |  Press Release  |  Federal Communications Commission
Stephen Ehikian, previously of Salesforce, has been tapped to serve as GSA’s acting administrator  |  nextgov
Folding Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, into Trump World hasn’t been easy.  |  Wall Street Journal
A Trump Oligarchy Is Moving to Washington, and Buying Up Prime Addresses  |  New York Times
Editorial | The New Oligarchy Is a Vast Improvement on the Old: For decades the powerful have produced discord, distrust, failur  |  Wall Street Journal

Stories From Abroad

European Commission welcomes the integration of the revised Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online into the Digital Services Act  |  Read below  |  Press Release  |  European Commission
Apple hit by Belgian probe over ‘blood minerals’ from Congo  |  Financial Times
Meta Will Use Fact Checkers Outside the US ‘for Now’  |  Bloomberg
RedNote Recruited US Influencers to Promote App Amid TikTok Ban Uncertainty  |  Wired
Elon Musk complains about China ban on X as Donald Trump prepares TikTok reprieve  |  Financial Times
French Newspaper Le Monde Leaves X, Says Trump’s ‘Alliance’ With Social Media Heads Represents ‘Global Threat’  |  Wrap, The
China Signals It Is Open to a Deal Keeping TikTok in U.S.  |  Wall Street Journal
Europol chief says Big Tech has ‘responsibility’ to unlock encrypted messages  |  Financial Times
Today's Top Stories

Restoring Freedom Of Speech And Ending Federal Censorship

President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, an amendment essential to the success of our Republic, enshrines the right of the American people to speak freely in the public square without Government interference.  Over the last 4 years, the previous administration trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve.  Under the guise of combatting “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “malinformation,” the Federal Government infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advanced the Government’s preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate.  Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society. It is the policy of the United States to: (a)  secure the right of the American people to engage in constitutionally protected speech; (b)  ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen; (c)  ensure that no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen; and (d)  identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to censorship of protected speech. Ending Censorship of Protected Speech.  (a)  No Federal department, agency, entity, officer, employee, or agent may act or use any Federal resources in a manner contrary to this order.

Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing

President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House

The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military.  This was a concerted effort stemming from President Biden’s first day in office, when he issued Executive Order 13985, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.” Nearly every Federal agency and entity submitted “Equity Action Plans” to detail the ways that they have furthered DEIs infiltration of the Federal Government.  The public release of these plans demonstrated immense public waste and shameful discrimination.  That ends today. a) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), assisted by the Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), shall coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.  To carry out this directive, the Director of OPM, with the assistance of the Attorney General as requested, shall review and revise, as appropriate, all existing Federal employment practices, union contracts, and training policies or programs to comply with this order. b) Each agency, department, or commission head, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Director of OMB, and the Director of OPM, as appropriate, shall take the following actions within sixty days of this order:

  • terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” offices and positions (including but not limited to “Chief Diversity Officer” positions); all “equity action plans,” “equity” actions, initiatives, or programs, “equity-related” grants or contracts; and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.
  • provide the Director of the OMB with a list of all agency or department DEI, DEIA, or “environmental justice” positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures in existence on November 4, 2024, and an assessment of whether these positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures have been misleadingly relabeled in an attempt to preserve their pre-November 4, 2024 function; Federal contractors who have provided DEI training or DEI training materials to agency or department employees; and Federal grantees who received Federal funding to provide or advance DEI, DEIA, or “environmental justice” programs, services, or activities since January 20, 2021.
  • direct the deputy agency or department head to: assess the operational impact (e.g., the number of new DEI hires) and cost of the prior administration’s DEI, DEIA, and “environmental justice” programs and policies; and recommend actions, such as Congressional notifications under 28 U.S.C. 530D, to align agency or department programs, activities, policies, regulations, guidance, employment practices, enforcement activities, contracts (including set-asides), grants, consent orders, and litigating positions with the policy of equal dignity and respect identified in section 1 of this order. 

Establishing And Implementing The President’s “Department Of Government Efficiency”

President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House

This Executive Order establishes the Department of Government Efficiency to implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity. The United States Digital Service is hereby publicly renamed as the United States DOGE Service (USDS) and shall be established in the Executive Office of the President. There shall be a USDS Administrator established in the Executive Office of the President who shall report to the White House Chief of Staff. There is further established within USDS, in accordance with section 3161 of title 5, United States Code, a temporary organization known as “the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization”.  The U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization shall be headed by the USDS Administrator and shall be dedicated to advancing the President’s 18-month DOGE agenda.  The U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization shall terminate on July 4, 2026. In consultation with USDS, each Agency Head shall establish within their respective Agencies a DOGE Team of at least four employees, which may include Special Government Employees, hired or assigned within thirty days of the date of this Order. Agency Heads shall select the DOGE Team members in consultation with the USDS Administrator.  Each DOGE Team will typically include one DOGE Team Lead, one engineer, one human resources specialist, and one attorney.  Agency Heads shall ensure that DOGE Team Leads coordinate their work with USDS and advise their respective Agency Heads on implementing the President‘s DOGE Agenda. The USDS Administrator shall commence a Software Modernization Initiative to improve the quality and efficiency of government-wide software, network infrastructure, and information technology (IT) systems.  Among other things, the USDS Administrator shall work with Agency Heads to promote inter-operability between agency networks and systems, ensure data integrity, and facilitate responsible data collection and synchronization.

Application Of Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act To TikTok

President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House

I have the unique constitutional responsibility for the national security of the United States, the conduct of foreign policy, and other vital executive functions.  To fulfill those responsibilities, I intend to consult with my advisors, including the heads of relevant departments and agencies on the national security concerns posed by TikTok, and to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans.  My Administration must also review sensitive intelligence related to those concerns and evaluate the sufficiency of mitigation measures TikTok has taken to date. The unfortunate timing of section 2(a) of the Act — one day before I took office as the 47th President of the United States — interferes with my ability to assess the national security and foreign policy implications of the Act’s prohibitions before they take effect.  This timing also interferes with my ability to negotiate a resolution to avoid an abrupt shutdown of the TikTok platform while addressing national security concerns.  Accordingly, I am instructing the Attorney General not to take any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans. I hereby order the Attorney General not to take any action on behalf of the United States to enforce the Act for 75 days from the date of this order, to permit my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course of action with respect to TikTok.

Regulatory Freeze Pending Review

President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order all executive departments and agencies to take the following steps:

  • Do not propose or issue any rule in any manner, including by sending a rule to the Office of the Federal Register (the “OFR”), until a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President after noon on January 20, 2025, reviews and approves the rule. 
  • Immediately withdraw any rules that have been sent to the OFR but not published in the Federal Register, so that they can be reviewed and approved.
  • consider postponing for 60 days from the date of this memorandum the effective date for any rules that have been published in the Federal Register, or any rules that have been issued in any manner but have not taken effect, for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy that the rules may raise.  During this 60-day period, where appropriate and consistent with applicable law, consider opening a comment period to allow interested parties to provide comments about issues of fact, law, and policy raised by the rules postponed under this memorandum, and consider reevaluating pending petitions involving such rules.
  • no further action needs to be taken for those rules that raise no substantial questions of fact, law, or policy.  For those rules that raise substantial questions of fact, law, or policy, agencies should notify and take further appropriate action in consultation with the OMB Director.

Hiring Freeze

President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order a freeze on the hiring of Federal civilian employees, to be applied throughout the executive branch.  As part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law.  Except as provided below, this freeze applies to all executive departments and agencies regardless of their sources of operational and programmatic funding. This order does not apply to military personnel of the armed forces or to positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety.  Moreover, nothing in this memorandum shall adversely impact the provision of Social Security, Medicare, or Veterans’ benefits.  In addition, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) may grant exemptions from this freeze where those exemptions are otherwise necessary. Within 90 days of the date of this memorandum, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the Director of OPM and the Administrator of the United States DOGE Service (USDS), shall submit a plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition.  Upon issuance of the OMB plan, this memorandum shall expire for all executive departments and agencies, with the exception of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  This memorandum shall remain in effect for the IRS until the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of OMB and the Administrator of USDS, determines that it is in the national interest to lift the freeze. Contracting outside the Federal Government to circumvent the intent of this memorandum is prohibited. This memorandum does not limit the nomination and appointment of officials to positions requiring Presidential appointment or Senate confirmation.

Return to In-Person Work

President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House

Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary.

Startup America

Jim Vandehei, Mike Allen  |  Axios

Think of the U.S. government as a once-dominant, lean, high-flying company that grew too big, too bloated, too bureaucratic, too unimaginative. It's Kodak or Circuit City—a dominant player caught napping amid an obvious technological transformation. This snooze-and-lose reality is partly driving the governing and economic pace, tone and policies of President Trump's White House. A theory that binds President Donald Trump with leading innovators, especially Elon Musk, is that you can bring tech and business talent and techniques together to take a wrecking ball to broken ideas and/or processes or entire agencies. Musk, Marc Andreessen and a growing chorus of entrepreneurs and tech CEOs are fusing their "founder mode" mentality with Trump's desire for fast growth. You have Silicon Valley's best and brightest battling for bigger roles in reshaping government. Almost every CEO wants a slice of the action. Whether you're a skeptic or fan, consider not what a policy wonk would do, but rather how a tech CEO would shake things up if their company was deep in debt and slow in execution.

  1. Simplify, simplify, simplify.
  2. Cut costs. 
  3. Bet big. You can't cut your way out of this crisis. The only palatable solution: explosive growth. Not 2% or 3%. Twice that. Marc Andreessen has argued publicly this rate of growth is possible if you stack government attention and staff correctly. The big bets would be on AI, space, new domestic energy sources, crypto, and U.S. businesses doing this work at home. GDP growth of 1% would amount to about $290 billion.
  4. Break stuff. Musk bluntly warned before the election that big cuts and change in government inevitably cause "temporary pain." Politicians typically hate inflicting any pain on voters — hence, your deficits! But any business leader who shuts down products or lays off people knows it's the price of growth.
  5. Ignore the whiners. What holds back CEOs and political leaders is the same thing: fear, fear of bad headlines or big revolts. But Trump's pain threshold is higher than anyone we've seen in public office. So you could see him enduring it if convinced it will juice his numbers. Musk is a living reminder that a lot of bad press does not equate to failure. Often, it's the opposite.

Trump’s digital populism takes the stage

Derek Robertson  |  Politico

As Donald Trump became the 47th president of the United States, there was a jarring contrast hovering over the proceedings—between his populist style, embodied by his flurry of action to save TikTok, and the massive government apparatus of which he took control. The TikTok drama represents the crash of two powerful strains in American public life, a conflict that President Trump has a flair for capitalizing on and even encouraging. One is the full weight of America’s legal and democratic institutions—the Congress that overwhelmingly passed the law; the president who signed it; the Supreme Court that upheld it. On the other side are Trump and TikTok: an app with 170 million upset American users, verging on an unruly mob, and a president with a drive to deliver populist “wins.” For now, it seems the digital crowd has the upper hand in the latest, and maybe most potent, example of the new form of digital populism President Trump has embraced. From the beginning, Trump’s political rise has been fueled by the power of tech platforms as an outside route to public attention, and a way to bypass traditional governance by talking directly to people whether via Twitter, or podcasts, or his own social-media platform. TikTok is an especially effective tool for this form of populist governance, as its mysterious but powerful algorithm keeps users hooked and makes it a direct, if roughly sketched, reflection of the vox populi.

President Trump Makes Sub-Cabinet Appointments

President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House

To the Senate of the United States, I nominate:

  • Abigail Slater, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Attorney General, vice Jonathan Kanter, resigned.
  • Mark Meador, of Virginia, to be a Federal Trade Commissioner for the term of seven years from September 26, 2024, vice Lina M. Khan, term expired.
  • Scott Kupor, of California, to be Director of the Office of Personnel Management for a term of four years, vice Kiran Arjandas Ahuja, resigned.
  • James Bishop, of North Carolina, to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, vice Nani A. Coloretti, resigned.
  • Dean Sauer, of Missouri, to be Solicitor General of the United States, vice Elizabeth Prelogar, resigned.
  • Michael Faulkender, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, vice Adewale O. Adeyemo, resigned.
  • Jared Isaacman, of Pennsylvania, to be Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, vice Bill Nelson, resigned.

President Trump taps Jeremy Pelter as Acting Leader of the Department of Commerce

President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House

I hereby direct the following individuals to perform the functions and duties of the indicated positions in an acting capacity until the position is filled by appointment: Jeremy Pelter, Secretary of Commerce. Pelter currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration. As the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration, Pelter is the principal deputy to the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary overseeing management and administrative service functions for the Department. Prior to this role, Pelter served as the Deputy Under Secretary for Industry and Security, managing the daily operations of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and advising the Under Secretary of Industry and Security on a broad range of management and policy issues. Pelter previously served at the Department-level as the Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Commerce, advising the Deputy Secretary on issues related to policy and program implementation. Mr. Pelter entered the career senior executive service as the Chief Financial Officer and Director of Administration for the Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA). Before the Department of Commerce, Mr. Pelter served at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in several financial and operational positions. Additionally, Mr. Pelter was an inaugural Fellow of the White House Leadership Development Program, supporting trade policy. Prior to his federal career, Mr. Pelter worked in the non-profit sector in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Pelter earned his BA in Political Science from Indiana University and his MS in Management from the University of Maryland University College. He holds certificates in Public Leadership and Program Management from the Brookings Institution and American University, respectively.

Karin O'Leary is now the Acting Head of the NTIA

Karin O'Leary, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is now also the Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. She is a federal public administration executive with experience in leading transformational change in the public sector. O'Leary serves as NTIA’s senior career official and is responsible for overseeing the programmatic and day-to-day management of the agency. Before joining NTIA in 2023, O'Leary most recently served as Lead Account Partner for IBM’s business portfolio for the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Courts where she was responsible for proposing and managing consulting services contracts and driving account strategy for hybrid cloud and business transformation services. She also served as a Fellow with the IBM Center for The Business of Government, representing IBM with the Shared Services Leadership Coalition, American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council, AGA, and the Professional Services Council. During her 5 years with IBM, she authored reports, articles, and blogs on topics relating to federal budgets, emerging technology, enterprise risk management, shared services, and business transformation. O'Leary previously held senior leadership roles with the Judicial and Executive Branches of the federal government. As the Judiciary’s Chief Financial Officer, Karin led the implementation of a single financial and procurement system to over 450 court locations and transitioned local disbursing to the U.S. Treasury. As an Executive Branch leader, O'Leary served as DOJ’s Budget Director and Deputy Performance Improvement Officer, overseeing the development and execution of the Department’s $30 billion annual budget while also playing a critical role in strategic planning and performance management. Additionally, O'Leary held leadership positions with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia, a federal agency that she helped to establish. Her federal career began at the Corporation for National and Community Service (later renamed “AmeriCorps”). O'Leary holds a Master of Public Administration from the American University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a concentration in Public Administration from the Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. 

President Trump taps Gary Washington as Acting Leader of the Department of Agriculture

President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House

I hereby direct the following individuals to perform the functions and duties of the indicated positions in an acting capacity until the position is filled by appointment: Gary Washington, Department of Agriculture. Gary Washington was selected as the USDA Chief Information Officer (CIO) in February 2018. Formerly the CIO for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Washington also has served as CIO and Director of the Information Technology Division for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Prior to his appointments as the CIO of USDA, APHIS and NRCS, Washington was a portfolio manager in the Electronic Government Office in the Executive Office of the President-Office of Management and Budget, where he was responsible for managing the Internal Effectiveness and Efficiency portfolio. Additionally, Washington managed the financial management, human resources and infrastructure lines of business, and the E-gov initiatives. Washington also worked at the Food and Drug Administration, where he was the Director of IT Governance and the Deputy Director of Infrastructure, and at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, where he was the service manager for one of the first nationwide seat management programs. Washington spent 5 years in private industry as well as 10 years as a Computer Operator and Command Control Specialist in the U.S. Air Force. He is an elected member of the Association for Federal Information Resource Managers and a 2006 graduate of the Industry Advisory Council Partners Program. Washington is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Strayer University in Washington D.C.

Designation of Chairmen and Acting Chairmen

President Donald Trump  |  Public Notice  |  White House

I hereby designate the following: Brendan Carr, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and Andrew Ferguson, Chair of the Federal Trade Commission.

Carr Issues Statement on Designation as Chairman of the FCC by President Trump

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr  |  Press Release  |  Federal Communications Commission

I am deeply grateful to President Trump and honored by his decision to designate me as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. I have had the privilege of working at the FCC for over a dozen years now, including serving previously as the agency’s General Counsel, and I am humbled by the opportunity to lead the FCC. The FCC has important work ahead—on issues ranging from tech and media regulation to unleashing new opportunities for jobs and growth through agency actions on spectrum, infrastructure, and the space economy.  We will also advance America’s national security interests and protect consumers. I am eager to accelerate the FCC’s work on these and other fronts.  I look forward to collaborating with the Trump Administration, my Commission colleagues, and the FCC’s talented staff as well as Congress to deliver great results for the American people.

European Commission welcomes the integration of the revised Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online into the Digital Services Act

Press Release  |  European Commission

The European Commission and the European Board for Digital Services welcome the integration of the revised ‘Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online +' into the framework of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which encourages voluntary codes of conduct to tackle risks online. The Code of conduct+, which builds on the 2016 on the initial Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online was signed by Dailymotion, Facebook, Instagram, Jeuxvideo.com, LinkedIn, Microsoft hosted consumer services, Snapchat, Rakuten Viber, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube. The signatories of the Code of conduct+ commit to, among other things:

  • Allow a network of ‘Monitoring Reporters', which are not-for-profit or public entities with expertise on illegal hate speech, to regularly monitor how the signatories are reviewing hate speech notices: Monitoring reporters may include entities designated as ‘Trusted Flaggers' under the DSA.
  • Undertake best efforts to review at least two thirds of hate speech notices received from Monitoring Reporters within 24 hours.
  • Engage with well-defined and specific transparency commitments as regards measures to reduce the prevalence of hate speech on their services, including through automatic detection tools.
  • Participate in structured multi-stakeholder cooperation with experts and civil society organisations that can flag the trends and developments of hate speech that they observe, helping to prevent waves of hate speech from going viral.
  • Raise, in cooperation with civil society organisations, users' awareness about illegal hate speech and the procedures to flag illegal content online.

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Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org), Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org), and Zoe Walker (zwalker AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.


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