Level of Government

US Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), along with US Representatives Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Mike Levin (D-CA), reintroduced the "Safeguarding Against Fraud, Exploitation, Threats, Extremism and Consumer Harms (SAFE TECH) Act" to reform Section 230 and allow social media companies to be held accountable for enabling cyber-stalking, online harassment, and discrimination on social media platforms. Specifically, the SAFE TECH Act would force online service providers to address misuse on their platforms or face

Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX) reintroduced the "Broadband Incentives for Communities Act," which creates a grant program to provide local and state governments with the resources to facilitate, modernize, and streamline broadband upgrades and deployment. In order to upgrade and expand broadband infrastructure, local governments work with private wireless companies to build out the necessary technology across communities. This requires these companies to submit zoning and permitting applications, but many wireless technology applications often do not fit the traditional governmental r

ACA Connects President and CEO Grant Spellmeye underscored the top-of-mind issues pervading the broadband industry. Unsurprisingly, the allocation of federal funds was front and center. First, ACA wants to make sure broadband funding is going where it’s supposed to be, as Spellmeyer noted the organization is “very concerned” about overbuilding using government support. The biggest pot of broadband money comes from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 includes a historic investment of $65 billion to help close the digital divide and ensure that everyone in America has access to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service. The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is responsible for distributing more than $48 billion in funding through several different programs.

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This paper examines the association between Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) awards, disability, and technology access. The paper found that:  

Congress' stall on technology policy is empowering courts to handle important decisions about everything from liability to content moderation. Technology moves faster than Congress can keep up with, and in the absence of new laws, lasting decisions about tech regulation are being determined by judges and courts across the country. Federal agencies, state governments, and attorneys representing different interests and motives for trying to regulate the tech industry are pushing cases forward. A high-profile instance came last week when the Supreme Court 

In late December 2021, President Donald Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a $2.3 trillion COVID relief and government spending bill that extended unemployment benefits and ensured the government kept running. Through that law, Congress allocated $7 billion to help improve connectivity in the U.S. including a new $300 million broadband deployment grant program at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The Link Up Idaho initiative encourages Idahoans to submit information about their internet to provide insight into broadband availability across the state. Idaho residents can submit information about their internet by March 15, 2023.

On behalf of Color Of Change, one of the nation’s leading racial justice organizations with millions of members nationwide, and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 230 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States, we write to express our complete support for [Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate] Gigi Sohn’s nomination to serve as Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner.