Government & Communications

Attempts by governmental bodies to improve or impede communications with or between the citizenry.

President Trump Demands Congress Curb Twitter Policies He Calls ‘Discriminatory’

President Donald Trump said Congress should "get involved" in a battle against "discriminatory" practices by Twitter that the President has alleged unfairly target conservatives. 'The best thing ever to happen to Twitter is Donald Trump,'" President Trump tweeted, quoting a guest on the Fox Business Network. "So true, but they don’t treat me well as a Republican. Very discriminatory, hard for people to sign on. Constantly taking people off list. Big complaints from many people. Different names—over 100 M.

After 40 Years, C-Span’s Founder Signs Off

Brian Lamb, the man who put Congress on live television, reflects on the results and explains why the Supreme Court ought to be next.

2019 World Press Freedom Index: US Now Ranks As 'Problematic' Place for Journalists

The 2019 World Press Freedom Index Compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows how hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence, contributing to an increase in fear.

What America's Governors Are Saying About Tech

Now that all 50 governors — including a robust crop of new faces — have made "State of the State" speeches, Government Technology took the opportunity to break down how many touched on various technology topics:

  • Technology: 34
  • Broadband/Connectivity/Internet: 23
  • Modern/Modernize: 21
  • Data: 20
  • Cybersecurity: 9 

FCC Inspector General Issues Advisory Regarding Fraud in the Lifeline Program

The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Inspector General has issued an advisory to alert Lifeline carriers, beneficiaries, and the public to a number of fraudulent enrollment practices found pervasive across the IG’s ongoing investigations targeting Lifeline carriers and the carriers’ sales agents. Many of these enrollment practices rely on identity fraud and the manipulation of personal information, including enrollee names, to evade the program’s safeguards. The advisory describes simple tricks used by fraudsters to create phantom enrollments.

Q&A with Michael Copps: Trump Is Trying to Put FCC Out of Business

A Q&A with former Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps.

Remarks Of Chairman Pai's Public Safety Legal Advisor, Zenji Nakazawa, At US-Caribbean Resilience Partnership Event

I am honored to be here on behalf of the Federal Communications Commission. Chairman Pai extends his warmest appreciation to our regulatory friends in the Caribbean. And he is excited to support the launch of the US-Caribbean Resilience Partnership. In these brief remarks, I’d like to talk about three topics: (1) the FCC’s role in disaster preparedness; (2) a few key lessons learned from the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season; and (3) what the FCC can do to support a working group for the U.S.-Caribbean Resilience Partnership

If we want to be modern, working on a machine-readable format for the public file should come next

We have more work do if want to truly modernize the public file system that is the subject of our decision April 12. These filings include things like station authorizations, contour maps, ownership reports, equal employment opportunity filings, reports on children’s television programming, materials related to investigations and complaints, and joint sales agreements.

White House Moves to Gain More Control Over Federal Regulations

The White House moved to exert greater control over the federal regulatory process by imposing additional scrutiny over independent government agencies when they establish new policies, guidelines or rules that affect large swaths of the economy.

WikiLeaks’ Assange arrested in London, accused by US of conspiring in 2010 computer hacking attempt

British authorities arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in response to an American extradition request, and a US federal court unsealed an indictment charging him with a single count of conspiracy to hack a classified Defense Department computer.  Assange was taken into custody by British police after Ecuador rescinded his asylum at its embassy in London, ending a media-saturated standoff that lasted nearly seven years.