Labor

1. Social media sites have emerged as a go-to platform for connecting with others, finding news and engaging politically. 
2. Around the world and in the US, social media has become a key tool for activists, as well as those aligned against them.
3. Smartphones have altered the way many Americans go online. 
4. Growth in mobile and social media use has sparked debates about the impact of screen time on America’s youth – and others.
5. Data privacy and surveillance have become major concerns in the post-Snowden era.

While our universities and tech firms still lead in cutting-edge innovation — from artificial intelligence to 5G wireless technology — it is China that has deployed them. The US is losing the commercialization race, a failure of our own making. America has no domestic manufacturer of 5G equipment, so it must rely on European or Chinese suppliers.

Experts are proposing that Congress pick eight to 10 up-and-coming tech cities away from the coastal hubs and heavily invest in research and workforce development. They want lawmakers to run a rigorous selection process to pick the rising tech centers, but suggested a list of potential candidates such as Madison (WI) and Minneapolis. The proposal may have a moonshot price tag, but it could gain traction in today's political climate: Economic inequality is emerging as a central theme of the 2020 elections.

The Communications Workers of America is suing to block the Federal Communications Commission’s approval of T-Mobile's takeover of Sprint in a Washington (DC) federal appeals court. The FCC exceeded its statutory authority in approving the deal, the union alleged in its Dec 5 lawsuit in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. The lawsuit is a new legal hurdle for the merger, which is already being challenged by a group of states. The FCC’s approval order violates the U.S. Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Communications Act of 1934, CWA alleged.

Free-speech advocates are challenging the Trump Administration’s policy of requiring foreigners to list their social media accounts as part of their visa applications, alleging in a lawsuit filed Dec 5 that the policy violates federal law and runs afoul of the Constitution.

Tech has been given surprisingly little airtime during the 2020 Democratic primaries. It has rarely come up on the debate stage. While candidates such as Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Andrew Yang, and Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have made tech-related issues part of their platforms, the matter is often eclipsed by other political hot topics, including health care and taxes.

America’s newsrooms are changing in important ways. Mergers, closures and layoffs have affected a variety of media organizations – especially newspapers – and these trends are reshaping the nation’s media landscape:

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-South bend), who has been a Silicon Valley favorite in the 2020 presidential race, is calling out several tech giants for harming workers. In his new policy plan, Mayor Buttigieg singles out Facebook, Google and Uber for troubling labor practices, and pledges to hold employers accountable under labor laws, strengthen unions and expand protections for gig workers. “The status quo with companies like Facebook and Uber setting the rules and government sitting on the sidelines must change,” the plan says.

Our major companies should have a workforce that looks like America, from entry-level positions to the board of directors. As I have long advocated, diversity is more than just best practices – it is good business. I appreciate how this principle is reflected in the recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between T-Mobile and the National Urban League, National Action Network, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC, OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and UnidosUS.