Platforms

Is Your Phone the Reason You Feel Broke?

For the past year, the political class has been wearing itself out over what sounds like a simple question: Why are Americans so down on the economy? One point of agreement is that core indicators seem to have diverged from how people report actually feeling about the economy or are insufficient to explain such things in the first place.

Zuckerberg and Meta Reach Deep into Academia

Mark Zuckerberg’s personal philanthropy and his company, Meta, have collectively donated hundreds of millions of dollars to more than 100 US colleges and universities across the country, giving the CEO powerful potential leverage to influence the institutions. The recipients of these donations range from research powerhouses like the University of California, Berkeley, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to smaller institutions like Des Moines Area Community College.

An Update on Twitch in Korea

We’ve made the difficult decision to shut down the Twitch business in Korea on February 27, 2024. We understand that this is extremely disappointing news, and we want to explain why we made this decision and how we are planning to support those impacted. Ultimately, the cost to operate Twitch in Korea is prohibitively expensive and we have spent significant effort working to reduce these costs so that we could find a way for the Twitch business to remain in Korea. First, we experimented with a peer-to-peer model for source quality. Then, we adjusted source quality to a maximum of 720p.

Copyright law will shape how we use generative AI

In the year since the release of ChatGPT, generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been moving fast and breaking things, and copyright law is only beginning to catch up. Intellectual property law has shaped the internet for three decades.

US stops helping Big Tech spot foreign meddling amid GOP legal threats

The US federal government has stopped warning some social networks about foreign disinformation campaigns on their platforms, reversing a years-long approach to preventing Russia and other actors from interfering in American politics less than a year before the US presidential elections. Meta no longer receives notifications of global influence campaigns from the Biden administration, halting a prolonged partnership between the federal government and the world’s largest social media company.

FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for December Open Meeting

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, December 13, 2023:

Why Altman and Musk pose a problem for Washington

The collision of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover and the recent chaos at OpenAI reveals something even bigger than social media’s shifting tectonic plates—the extent of the society-shaping power wielded by a very small cadre of Silicon Valley titans. Individual personalities—and individual fortunes—matter far more in the world of Silicon Valley startups than they do in corporate America’s more consensus-oriented, traditional bureaucracies.

In rare show of force, senators enlist U.S. marshals to subpoena tech CEOs

A Senate panel announced Monday it subpoenaed the CEOs of Elon Musk’s X, Discord and Snap to testify at a hearing on children’s online safety next month after “repeated refusals” by the tech companies to cooperate with its investigation into the matter. The move marks a major escalation by lawmakers probing how social media platforms may harm children’s mental health, an area of broad bipartisan interest on Capitol Hill. The committee announced that it also expects Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to appear voluntarily.

Developing a conceptual framework for digital platform literacy

This paper introduces the innovative concept of platform literacy, specifically within the context of digital platforms. In today's digital economy, where digital platforms are essential tools in people's lives and form the core of the digital ecosystem, the ability to effectively utilize these platforms is becoming crucial. This study systematically examines the existing literature on digital platforms and digital literacy to establish a conceptual foundation for assessing an individual's platform literacy.

Sens Thune (R-SD) and Klobuchar (D-MN) Lead Commerce Committee Colleagues in Introducing Bipartisan AI Bill to Boost Innovation and Strengthen Accountability

Sens John Thune (R-SD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Hickenlooper (D-CO, Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) introduced the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research, Innovation, and Accountability Act of 2023.

More Americans are getting news on TikTok, bucking the trend seen on most other social media sites

A small but growing share of U.S. adults say they regularly get news on TikTok. This is in contrast with many other social media sites, where news consumption has either declined or stayed about the same in recent years. In just three years, the share of U.S. adults who say they regularly get news from TikTok has more than quadrupled, from 3 percent in 2020 to 14 percent in 2023. TikTok, primarily known for short-form video sharing, has become especially popular among teens—two-thirds of whom report ever using the platform—as well as young adults. More of TikTok’s U.S.

Rep. Luna (R-FL) Introduces Bill to Protect American Data from Foreign Adversaries

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) introduced the U.S. Data on U.S. Soil Act (H.R.6410) to protect the data security of Americans from being collected and exploited by our foreign adversaries. Specifically,  the U.S. Data on U.S. Soil would protect the data security of the American people by: 

Google, Meta, TikTok defeat Austria’s plan to combat hate speech

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Austria cannot force Google, Meta, and TikTok to pay millions in fines if they fail to delete hate speech from their popular social media platforms. Austria had attempted to hold platforms accountable for hate speech and other illegal content after passing a law in 2021 requiring tech giants to publish reports as often as every six months detailing content takedowns.

5 Terabyte+ Extreme Power Users Pose new Challenge to Broadband Networks

A new category of extreme power users who consume more than 5 Terabytes (TB) per month of broadband data has been identified in the 3Q 2023 OpenVault Broadband Insights (OVBI) report. Extreme power users consume six times more data for online gaming than do users of 1 TB or less per month; however, they consume the least amount of social media data when compared to users in other high-usage categories categories.

FTC Raises AI-related Competition and Consumer Protection Issues

In a comment submitted to the US Copyright Office, the Federal Trade Commission identified several issues raised by the development and deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that implicate competition and consumer protection policy, noting the FTC’s role in monitoring the impact of generative AI and vigorously enforcing the law as appropriate to protect competition and consumers. The comment explains that the FTC has an interest in copyright-related issues beyond questions about the scope of rights and the extent of liability under the copyright laws.

AI Regulation is Not a Priority for Americans, According to Axios and Morning Consult

Americans rank the importance of regulating AI below government shutdowns, health care, gun reform, immigration and the war between Israel and Hamas, according to 

Google’s 2019 ‘Code Yellow’ Blurred Line Between Search, Ads

The former head of search at Google told colleagues in February 2019 that his team was “getting too involved with ads for the good of the product and company,” according to emails shown at the Justice Department’s landmark antitrust trial against the company. Google maintains a firewall between its ads and search teams so that its engineers can innovate on Google’s search engine, unsullied by the influence of the team whose goal is to maximize advertising revenue.

Wireless Companies are Getting More Money out of Your Older Phone

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon made more money from providing wireless services in the third quarter of 2023 compared with the prior year as they added phone lines and nudged many clients toward more expensive plans. The boost in service revenue helped offset weaker equipment sales as purchases of pricey phones slowed at their stores and websites. “Customers are holding on to their phones longer,” said Tony Skiadas, finance chief for Verizon, the country’s largest wireless carrier by subscribers.

President Biden Issues Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence

President Biden issued a landmark Executive Order to ensure that America leads the way in seizing the promise and managing the risks of artificial intelligence (AI). The Executive Order establishes new standards for AI safety and security, protects Americans’ privacy, advances equity and civil rights, stands up for consumers and workers, promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership around the world, and more. The Executive Order directs the following actions:

States Sue Meta Alleging Harm to Young People on Instagram, Facebook

A coalition of 41 states and Washington (DC) are filing lawsuits alleging that Meta Platforms has intentionally built its products with addictive features that harm young users of its Facebook and Instagram services. The lawsuits, in federal and state courts, say Meta misled the public about the dangers of its platforms for young people. The states also allege that Meta knowingly has marketed its products to users under the age of 13, who are barred from the platform by both Meta’s policies and federal law.

Supreme Court Lifts Limits for Now on Biden Officials’ Contacts With Tech Platforms

The Supreme Court allowed Biden administration officials to continue to contact social media platforms to combat what the officials say is misinformation, pausing a sweeping ruling from a federal appeals court that had severely limited such interactions. The justices also agreed to hear the administration’s appeal in the case, setting the stage for a major test of the role of the First Amendment in the internet era — one that will require the court to consider when government efforts to limit the spread of misinformation amount to censorship of constitutionally protected speech.

Former FCC Chairman Wheeler wants to steal Big Tech’s moves

In his new book “Techlash: Who Makes The Rules In The Digital Age?”, former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler says regulators have failed to rein in Big Tech because they’re using outdated tools. Call it something like “regulatory futurism”—Wheeler is saying now is the time for the government to get innovative by setting up new agencies with wide-reaching powers to determine what is and isn’t in the public’s best interest when it comes to tech.

Silicon Valley Ditches News, Shaking an Unstable Industry

The major online platforms are breaking up with news. Some executives of the largest tech companies, like Adam Mosseri at Instagram, have said in no uncertain terms that hosting news on their sites can often be more trouble than it is worth because it generates polarized debates. Others, like Elon Musk, the owner of X, have expressed disdain for the mainstream press. Publishers seem resigned to the idea that traffic from the big tech companies will not return to what it once was.

Senators Launch Effort to Limit Kids’ Social Media Access at School, Promote Parental Limits on Screen Time

Sens Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ted Budd (R-NC) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced legislation to limit children's access to social media at school by requiring schools receiving federal broadband funding to prohibit access on subsidized services, devices, and networks.