Policymakers

Consumer advocates say they worry about the future of kids’ online safety advocacy if Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) loses his contentious Massachusetts Democratic primary to challenger Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA).

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division is creating the Office of Decree Enforcement and Compliance and a Civil Conduct Task Force.  Additionally, it will redistribute matters among its six civil sections in order to build expertise based on current trends in the economy.

President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw his nomination of Michael O'Rielly, a Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission, for a new term has thrown into question the coming political balance-of-power and policy agenda at the agency. Republicans on the commission currently hold a 3-2 majority, but that could change depending on the outcome of the November presidential election and whether someone is appointed to O'Rielly's seat by the end of the year.

Carolyn Roddy, a senior advisor at the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, and Hill staffer Crystal Tully, are two names that have surfaced as potential nominees to replace Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly. Roddy was a member of Trump's FCC transition team following the 2016 election and was Metro Atlanta Regional Deputy Coordinator of the campaign. She was briefly an FCC lawyer in 2017.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced the new members of the FCC’s Intergovernmental Advisory Committee and named Paul J. TenHaken, Mayor of Sioux Falls (SD) Chair of the IAC and Peter J. Larkin, Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, as Vice-Chair.

Adam Candeub, current acting deputy of the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is being elevated to the role of Acting Assistant Secretary. His elevation to a top position at NTIA is sure to be controversial because of ties to white nationalists.

With due respect to Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, conservatives interested in reform understand full well the purpose of the First Amendment (“Mike O’Rielly’s Free Speech Fall,” Review & Outlook, Aug. 5). We simply don’t believe that gigantic and massively powerful social-media platforms deserve special statutory protection, as is laid out in Section 230.

Joseph Biden has been critical of Big Tech, admonishing Facebook for mishandling misinformation and saying internet companies should lose a central legal protection.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced two new additions to his office, three departures, and an expanded role for one of his current advisors.

President Donald Trump has sent a message to the Federal Communications Commission: Cross me for misusing my powers in this way, and you’ll be punished, too. The president wants Mike O’Rielly, his fellow FCC commissioners, and appointees across agencies to know what happens when they dare to put the rule of law first, just as the president wants Twitter, and Facebook, and all influential companies on the Internet or off to know how carefully they must tread with him in charge.