Politico

Want to know where Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) stands on key tech and telecom policy debates? 1) He's a   longtime net neutrality, privacy advocate, 2) he supports beefing up antitrust, and 3) he's a favorite among tech staffers and a prolific social media campaigner. 

As Democratic leaders unveiled legislation to revive Obama-era net neutrality rules, one name was conspicuously absent: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). The lawmaker was the sole member of the Senate Democratic caucus not to co-sponsor the measure. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) had circulated his Save the Internet Act since January seeking a widespread show of Democratic backing. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) “signed on this morning,” Sen Markey told reporters, leaving Sen. Sinema as the lone holdout.

President Donald Trump's reelection team is backing a controversial plan to give the government a role in managing America's next-generation 5G wireless networks — bucking the free market consensus view of his own administration and sparking wireless industry fears of nationalization. The plan — embraced by Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale and adviser Newt Gingrich — would involve the government taking 5G airwaves and designing a system to allow for sharing them on a wholesale basis with wireless providers.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) is slated to participate in a fundraiser hosted by the telecommunications industry on Feb. 26 — the evening before the panel holds the hearing on privacy issues that are a point of contention between telecom and internet companies. The political action committees for AT&T and US Telecom are listed as hosts. Entry starts at $1,500 for individual guests, $2,500 to attend as a sponsor and $5,000 to co-host.

Consumer advocates are furious that the Senate Commerce Committee's initial witness list for its upcoming hearing on data privacy consists entirely of industry-backed groups. The panel, led by Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS), announced a slate of witnesses headlined by representatives from prominent tech trade groups. A Senate staffer familiar with the committee described the Feb. 27 session as a starting point on privacy discussions that will lay the groundwork for future hearings. But privacy advocates said the snub reflected a lack of regard for consumers.

A wide-ranging disinformation campaign aimed at Democratic 2020 candidates is already underway on social media, with signs that foreign state actors are driving at least some of the activity. A Politico review of recent data extracted from Twitter and from other platforms, as well as interviews with data scientists and digital campaign strategists, suggests that the goal of the coordinated barrage appears to be undermining the nascent candidacies through the dissemination of memes, hashtags, misinformation and distortions of their positions.

Democrats on Capitol Hill say they are intrigued by a proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) for users to “share in the wealth that is created from their data” — though they would like to hear more details. Gov.