Government & Communications

President Donald Trump is signing an Executive Order that promotes free speech on college campuses. Agencies will take appropriate steps to ensure that college and university campuses are places of free thought and debate. The Trump Administration believes that public schools should fulfill their obligation to uphold the First Amendment and private schools should comply with their stated institutional policies regarding free speech. The Trump Administration believes that schools should promote free speech and be transparent about their speech policies.

The Federal Communications Commission admitted in court that its Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) does not track where comments submitted to the system originate. The filing is part of a lawsuit the FCC is facing from The New York Times. The New York Times, Washington Post, BuzzFeed and Gizmodo have been investigating claims about fake/mass-generated comments since 2017, when the FCC began collecting public comments on its proposed repeal of the Title II designation for broadband.

As lawmakers prepare to weigh in on high-profile tech issues like artificial intelligence, 5G and online privacy, the Government Accountability Office wants to make sure they know what they’re doing.  On March 20, GAO submitted a letter to Congress outlining its vision for the group. The plan, which has not yet been made public, will include specifics on the size and scope of the office.

President Donald Trump accused tech companies, including Facebook, Twitter and Google, of promoting "the Radical Left Democrats." "Facebook, Google and Twitter, not to mention the Corrupt Media, are sooo on the side of the Radical Left Democrats. But fear not, we will win anyway, just like we did before! #MAGA," the president wrote online.

Stung by obscene and pointed criticism, Rep Devin Nunes (R-CA) has sued Twitter and three users for defamation, claiming the users smeared him and the platform allowed it to happen because of a political agenda. The complaint, which was filed in Henrico County Circuit Court in Virginia, seeks $250 million in damages.

The Federal Communications Commission is asking a judge to reject The New York Times Company's request for information about comments submitted to the agency in its 2017 net neutrality proceeding. The agency argues that the data sought by the Times -- including IP addresses associated with comments -- would compromise commenters' privacy. The FCC also says it can't provide the information sought by the news company without undertaking new research.

For Fiscal Year 2020, the Federal Communications Commission is requesting the budget and personnel amounts that are summarized in the bullets below:

On March 17, President Donald Trump defended two of Fox's right-wing opinion shows and criticized three of the network's news anchors. Most notably of all, he used Twitter to send a long message to Fox executives, urging them to "stay true to the people that got you there."  "Bring back @JudgeJeanine Pirro. The Radical Left Democrats, working closely with their beloved partner, the Fake News Media, is using every trick in the book to SILENCE a majority of our Country. They have all out campaigns against @FoxNews hosts who are doing too well.

Attorney General William Barr has asserted the state secrets privilege for the first known time since he was sworn in in Feb, using the controversial legal tool in a lawsuit brought by the social media company Twitter over its bid to publish a more complete account of government surveillance requests.

President Donald Trump threatened “Saturday Night Live” and other late-night shows with a federal investigation for poking fun of him. He said, “It’s truly incredible that shows like Saturday Night Live, not funny/no talent, can spend all of their time knocking the same person (me), over & over, without so much of a mention of ‘the other side.’ Like an advertisement without consequences. Same with Late Night Shows." “Should Federal Election Commission and/or [Federal Communications Commission] look into this?” he added.