Government & Communications

Once again, this FCC pretends it has the power to control news coverage. In reality, the FCC has vanishingly little power over national news networks. It licenses local broadcast stations, not networks, and no licenses are up for renewal until 2028. Early renewal attempts are exceedingly rare, and the process is so demanding that any effort would almost certainly fail, especially given the well-documented First Amendment violations underlying these moves.

The Pentagon is turning procurement into policy, staking its claim as Washington's most powerful AI player with its decision to 

The Department of Treasury has proposed maintaining an extensive database of private personal information and sharing that information with other government agencies and some select corporations. The proposal, contained in a dry “Systems of Record Notice,” would allow Treasury to collect, maintain, and share information, including bank account information, social security numbers, and employment and income information, from eight separate Treasury-run programs.

Across the country, policymakers are reexamining outdated telecommunications rules that no longer reflect how Americans communicate. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission took another big step toward speeding our nation’s transition to modern digital networks, joining the more than two dozen states who have made this progress a priority. This requires reforming decades-old state rules, such as “Carrier of Last Resort,” that require phone companies to spend billions maintaining outdated copper networks rather than focusing on faster, stronger networks consumers actually use.

Infiltrating phone apps has become an increasingly common practice, both for propaganda and surveillance. Hacking a phone app can be more effective than trying to tap into a computer, according to Nicholas Reese, former director of emerging technology policy at the Department of Homeland Security. People generally store more personal information on their phones, often without realizing it. Accessing a computer typically requires infiltrating popular cloud services, which have sophisticated and standardized security protections.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 arrived at a pivotal moment in American communications history. For decades, universal service had meant one thing: ensuring that all Americans could access basic telephone service at affordable rates through a system of implicit cross-subsidies managed largely within the monopoly structure of AT&T and its successors. But by the mid-1990s, this model faced twin pressures.

Officials at multiple federal agencies have raised concerns about the safety and reliability of Elon Musk’s xAI artificial-intelligence tools in recent months, highlighting continuing disagreements within the U.S.

Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Lou Correa (D-CA), and Rep.

In the 250 years since our founding, technology has repeatedly transformed speech—from the printing press to radio, from the telegraph to the telephone, and from the television to the global internet. Every major advancement in communications technology has shifted who holds power over speech. In our current age, that increasingly means that whoever controls communications technology controls the boundaries of free expression.

If AI were a politician, it'd be headed for a landslide defeat. In the Trump administration, Silicon Valley, and select AI-obsessed