Broadcasting&Cable

Gigi Sohn, former adviser to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, supports legislation to clarify the FCC's authority over broadband, but that unless that bill returns oversight of the market to the FCC, that is not likely to happen. She said the fight over such legislation will hinge on whether the FCC is going to oversee the market.

The Third US Circuit Court of Appeals threw out changes to broadcast media ownership rules approved by the Federal Communications Commission in 2017, saying the agency should have looked more closely at potential impacts on minority ownership. The court  said it agreed with public-interest groups that “the Commission did not adequately consider the effect its sweeping rule changes will have on ownership of broadcast media by women and racial minorities.” The court will vacate and remand “the bulk of” the FCC’s actions over the last three years for further consideration by the agency.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) said that we have now seen how "the misuse of technology threatens our democratic systems, our economy, and our national security." "Western companies who help authoritarian regimes build censored apps or walled-garden versions of the internet are just as big a threat to a free and open internet as government actors," he said.