Legislation

Cox’s lawsuit is both misleading and unsupported by facts. The $108.7 million in federal funds allocated to Rhode Island through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is a transformative opportunity designed to close the digital divide in our state by ensuring every resident has access to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet. The State of Rhode Island was awarded these funds only after the National Telecommunications and Information Administration approved the state’s Initial Proposal.

Digital safety is a growing concern among experts and lawmakers, and among those surveyed for state digital equity planning efforts. Digital risk impacts everyone who interacts directly with internet-enabled devices as well as those exploited, marginalized, or surveilled by algorithmic and data-dependent systems. My latest research examines the tensions between the goals of:

Earlier in 2024, the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) sent letters to 22 projects that it believes are at some risk of blowing a key deadline. That’s nearly two-thirds of the 36 projects that Virginia funded in the 2022 fiscal year. Officials say they are confident they will be finished well before the end of 2026.

XKL confirms its compliance with Build America Buy America (BABA). The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD), part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), will provide $42.45 billion in funding to states to support the deployment of high-speed broadband internet access to underserved areas. Subgrantees (service providers) must maintain BABA compliance through the life of their BEAD-funded projects, directly influencing vendor selection.

A tug-of-war over the McKee administration's proposed use of $108 million in federal "internet for all" dollars has evolved into a lawsuit by Cox Communications against Rhode Island. Cox is seeking to stop the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation from using a "flawed mapping and challenge process to build redundant broadband internet infrastructure in some of Rhode Island’s wealthiest communities ...

Building on his calls for school districts to restrict the use of smartphones on school campuses, Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed Assembly Bill 3216, the Phone-Free School Act, to require every school district, charter school, and county office of education to adopt a policy limiting or prohibiting the use of smartphones by July 1, 2026.

This document was created to support applicants in applying for the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program: Native Entities (2024). The Notice of Funding Opportunity establishes a competitive process to make both State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program funds and State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program funds available to Native Entities to carry out digital equity and inclusion activities consistent with the Digital Equity Act. Proposed projects should address barriers to digital equity and promote:

A recent Politico article quoted a National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) spokesperson as saying that the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program was intended to be completed on a 10-year cycle. This is the first time I’ve heard that BEAD was intended to be a 10-year plan. States will be making BEAD awards starting sometime in 2025.

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed SB 976 by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), which prohibits online platforms from knowingly providing an addictive feed to a minor without parental consent. The bill also prohibits social media platforms from sending notifications to minors during school hours and late at night. The new law prohibits internet service and applications from providing “addictive feeds,” defined as media curated based on information gathered on or provided by the user, to minors without parental consent.

Funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) lapsed in May 2024, ending a monthly subsidy that 23 million households nationwide had been using to afford high-speed internet connections. The program’s lapse means many rural, low-income, and other vulnerable households are losing access to internet connections.