Washington Post

The Trump administration is crafting a proposal to protect Web users’ privacy, aiming to blunt global criticism that the absence of strict federal rules in the United States has enabled data mishaps at Facebook and others in Silicon Valley. Over the past month, the Commerce Department has been huddling with representatives of tech giants such as Facebook and Google, Internet providers including AT&T and Comcast, and consumer advocates, apparently.

[Commentary] Of all the mind-dizzying hypocrisies that have emanated from President Donald Trump’s communications office, it is hard to find any more outlandish than claiming to “support a free press” while barring a reporter from an open White House event simply because it didn’t like her questions. Outlandish, but not laughable; there’s nothing amusing about the administration’s retaliation against CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

There have been a number of instances in which the President or his surrogates have flatly denied something — only to have that denial contradicted weeks or months later by new documents or statements. Often, by then the media coverage has moved on to a new controversy. The release of the tape recording between Donald Trump and his former fixer, Michael Cohen, is only the most recent example of this dynamic. Here’s a sampling of White House denials that eventually unraveled after new information was disclosed.

New York attorney general candidate Zephyr Teachout promised to “explore breaking up” Facebook and Google if she is elected, using state and federal antitrust laws. Standing in front of the Manhattan offices of the New York Daily News, Teachout said tech companies are to blame for dominating the online advertising market — drawing revenue from newspapers and publishers. Teachout’s remarks came a day after the Daily News in New York announced layoffs that reduced the size of its newsroom by half.

A new poll from Quinnipiac University finds that most Americans disapprove of how the media cover President Donald Trump, a function of a majority of independents disapproving of that coverage. Among Republicans, though, nearly 9 in 10 disapprove of the media coverage. Most Americans also disapprove of how President Trump talks about the media.