Associated Press

Though network neutrality started off more than a decade ago as an insight into how to make networks work most efficiently, it has taken on much larger social and political dimensions lately. The issue has emerged as an anti-monopoly rallying point and even a focus for "resistance" to the Trump Administration.

While President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media are usually centered on national outlets like CNN and The New York Times, the attitudes unleashed have filtered down to journalists on the street covering news in local communities across the country. When a president describes the press as enemies of the people, “attitudes shift and the field crews get the brunt of the abuse,” wrote Lori Bentley-Law, a television news photographer for Los Angeles; KNBC-TV. “And it’s not just from one side.

Britain's Information Commissioner has slapped Facebook with a fine of $644,000 — the maximum possible — for its behavior in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The ICO's investigation found that between 2007 and 2014, Facebook processed the personal information of users unfairly by giving app developers access to their information without informed consent. The fine was the maximum allowed under the law at the time the breach occurred.

Apple CEO Tim Cook endorsed tough privacy laws for both Europe and the US and renewed the technology giant's commitment to protecting personal data, which he warned was being “weaponized” against users. Cook applauded European Union authorities for bringing in a strict new data privacy law in May and said the iPhone maker supports a US federal privacy law. “We at Apple are in full support of a comprehensive federal privacy law in the United States,” he said.