US Senate

Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Doug Jones (D-AL) introduced the American Broadband Buildout Act of 2019 (ABBA), a bipartisan bill to ensure that rural Americans have access to broadband services at speeds they need to fully participate in the modern society and economy by directing the Federal Communications Commission to provide up to $5 billion in matching grants to help states improve broadband infrastructure. The American Broadband Buildout Act of 2019 would:

Sens Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to Facebook urging the company to institute policy changes in light of evidence that third party game developers manipulated children into spending their parents’ money. Previous reporting by the Center for Investigative Reporting demonstrated that Facebook personnel had direct knowledge that children were spending large sums of their parents’ money on in-app purchases without parental knowledge or permission. New evidence now reveals that Facebook has still not instituted key policy changes to address this issue.

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) sent a letter to Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and introduced a resolution on June 24, both concerning US development and deployment of 5G wireless technology. The senator’s letter to Sec Ross raises concerns that the Department of Commerce may be intentionally delaying progress in the race to 5G. 

Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and the head of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, urging close scrutiny of Sinclair Broadcast Group's recent acquisition of 21 Regional Sports Networks and Fox College Sports (RSNs) from the Walt Disney Company in a deal valued at $10.6 billion.

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Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the Ending Support for Internet Censorship Act, a major update to the way big tech companies are treated under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). Sen.