Axios

The tech industry is lobbying statehouses across the country to pass privacy bills that critics call weak. Most tech firms would prefer a nationwide law, but since Congress hasn't budged on the issue, the industry now seeks to preempt states from approving tougher privacy rules like California's. Utah lawmakers considered and passed a state privacy bill in less than two weeks, and it's now awaiting the governor's signature. Utah would become the fourth state with a privacy law, following Colorado, Virginia and California.

The race to 5G is forcing the world's biggest telecom giants to consolidate. 5G is all about scale; when companies combine, they have more resources and capital to bid on spectrum and build out tools to get ahead. Orange and Masmovil announced they entered exclusive talks to merge their operations in Spain at a valuation of €19.6 billion ($21.7 billion).

Tools to sidestep internet restrictions have surged in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine and the government's decision to block some social media services, including Facebook. Finding ways around Russia's internet blockade could enable its citizens to stay connected to the rest of the world and gather information from sources beyond state-owned outlets. Virtual private networks, or VPNs, enable users to hide their locations to evade location-based restrictions and make browsing more private by encrypting internet traffic.

The internet promised a world in which no government could fully hide the truth from its people. Russia's free-speech crackdown following its invasion of Ukraine is testing that premise as never before. How everyday Russians view the conflict is likely to determine their willingness to support Vladimir Putin and his war. Russia has succeeded in driving out or shutting down some of the most popular internet services while also squelching the remnants of Russia's own independent news operations.