Stories from Abroad

The European Commission published the latest reports by Facebook, Google and Twitter covering the progress made in March 2019 to fight disinformation. The three online platforms are signatories to the Code of Practice against disinformation and have committed to report monthly on their actions ahead of the European Parliament elections in May 2019.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai released the following statement regarding his opposition to China Mobile’s application to provide telecommunications services in the US. The FCC is scheduled to vote on an Order that would deny that application at its May Open Meeting: “Safeguarding our communications networks is critical to our national security.

The Digital Global Access Policy Act (HR 1359) would direct the Department of State and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to collaborate with other agencies, international organizations, foreign governments, and other entities to promote the availability of access to the Internet in developing countries. In addition, the bill would require the Administration to report to the Congress on its policy to promote such access.

As US officials have pressured allies not to use networking gear from Chinese technology giant Huawei over spying concerns, President Donald Trump has urged American companies to “step up” and compete to provide the next generation of high-speed, low-lag wireless service known as 5G. There’s just one problem: There are barely any US companies manufacturing the technology’s most critical components.

Facebook has bowed to demands from European Union regulators to change what the bloc had called its misleading terms of service, the latest example of a broader effort by governments globally to exercise more control over tech firms.  The European Commission said that Facebook has agreed to address a list of outstanding concerns that it and a group of national consumer-protection authorities had articulated about the company’s terms of service. The changes will be made by June, the commission said.

Aiming to tackle well-defined harms such as hate crime, stalking, and terrorist activity alongside issues such as trolling and disinformation, the United Kingdom government proposes combining work done across eight or more separate regulators into one. This new "super-regulator" could have powers to fine technology companies according to their revenue, or even to block them. It could also be able to prosecute individual executives. The proposed body could be funded either by an industry levy or from the proceeds of any enforcement fines it imposed.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has proposed an independent watchdog that will write a "code of practice" for tech companies. The Online Harms White Paper is a joint proposal from the DCMS and the Home Office. A public consultation on the plans will run for 12 weeks. The paper suggests:

According to filings with the International Telecommunications Union, Amazon layed out plans for putting 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit with the goal of providing internet around the world. "Project Kuiper is a new initiative to launch a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world," the company said. "This is a long-term project that envisions serving tens of millions of people who lack basic access to broadband internet.

Few private citizens have ever been more central to the state of world affairs than Rupert Murdoch. As the head of a sprawling global media empire, he commanded multiple television networks, a global news service, a major publishing house and a Hollywood movie studio. His newspapers and television networks had been instrumental in amplifying the nativist revolt that was reshaping governments not just in the United States but also across the planet.

This article studies the impact of different elements driving the business case of a 5G network. The study was performed within 3 boroughs of central London, UK, for the period 2020–2030. 5G-related costs and revenues were calculated to derive the business case. The results show that the business case for a 5G network providing mobile broadband services alone is positive over the time period 2020–2030 but has some risk in the later years of this time period.