WASHINGTON — On Friday, the House of Representatives passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (or “IIJA”), a $1.2-trillion deal that the Senate passed in August. The bill touches on a wide range of spending projects and infrastructure-policy priorities, including more than $40 billion for broadband deployment and $14.2 billion for broadband-affordability measures. That affordability […]
Free Press
Posted inUS
More Than 100 Organizations and Community Leaders Demand That the FCC Investigate Decades of Racism in Media Policies
On Monday, more than 100 organizations and community leaders called on the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the history of racism in its media policies and identify reparative actions the agency can take to redress the structural racism that exists in the U.S. media system. In a letter sent to Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, […]
Posted inUS
Communications Infrastructure Is as Essential as Levees, Bridges and Roads to Keeping People Safe During Climate Disasters
Hurricane Ida left large swaths of Louisiana without reliable cellphone services, including the complete loss of services in two of the parishes directly in the storm’s path. In addition, more than 300,000 homes lost cable and wireline services, according to Federal Communications Commission data released on Monday. The region’s 911 call center was knocked out as well; […]
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New York Attorney General Finds the Broadband Industry Funded Illegal Scheme to Flood the Trump FCC with False Comments Against Net Neutrality
WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the New York Attorney General’s office announced that its multi-year investigation found that the nation’s largest broadband companies funded a secret multimillion-dollar campaign to influence the Federal Communication Commissions’ 2017 repeal of Net Neutrality rules and Title II classification of broadband internet-access service. The scheme resulted in millions of fake comments […]
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Advocates, Elected Officials Urge Facebook to Address the Spanish-Language Disinformation Crisis
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2021— On Tuesday, a coalition of racial-justice and platform-accountability organizations joined members of Congress to demand that Facebook fix its Spanish-language content-moderation gap, a crisis that is pushing extreme disinformation and hate to Spanish-speaking communities in the United States. Participating organizations, including Free Press, the Center for American Progress, the National Hispanic […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Craig Aaron: Congress Can’t Help Journalism Unless it Confronts the Power of Big Tech and Big Media
WASHINGTON, March 12, 2021 — At a House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on Friday, industry and labor representatives debated how to best solve the crisis in journalism. The hearing addressed the recently introduced Journalism Competition and Preservation Act — which would exempt publishers and broadcasters from antitrust rules, allowing them to collude in negotiations for […]
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Appeals Court Rejects Trump FCC Attempt to Scrap Media-Ownership Limits
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 23, 2019 — On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit delivered a forceful rebuke of the Federal Communications Commission and overturned the agency’s latest attempts to eliminate long-standing limits on local-media ownership. An alliance of public-interest groups — Common Cause, the Communications Workers of America, Free Press, the Media […]
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House Passes Save the Internet Act in Response to Strong and Bipartisan Public Support for Net Neutrality
WASHINGTON, April 10, 2019 — On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the Save the Internet Act (H.R. 1644), voting to restore the strong Net Neutrality rules and Title II legal framework for broadband in the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order. A companion bill introduced in the U.S. Senate in early March is also gathering […]
Posted inUS
In Big Win for Open-Internet Advocates, Senate Votes to Undo 2017 Net Neutrality Repeal
WASHINGTON, May 16, 2018 — On Wednesday, the Senate voted 52–47 in favor of a resolution of disapproval that would overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s unpopular 2017 repeal of Net Neutrality protections. The resolution, introduced by Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, would roll back the rule change, set to take effect June 11, and restore internet-user […]
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Net Neutrality Supporters Announce Operation #OneMoreVote on Feb. 27
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2018 — Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and Free Press Action Fund, which have organized many of the largest online protests in history, have announced Operation #OneMoreVote, an internet-wide day of action on Feb. 27. On this day, internet users, small businesses, online communities, public-interest groups and popular websites will harness […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Matt Wood: Chairman Pai Tries to Rewrite Legal History of Net Neutrality with Bogus FTC Agreement
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2017 — On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission released a draft “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU) on the ways the two agencies will allegedly work together to protect internet users after the FCC guts the open-internet protections in a vote on Dec. 14. In a statement accompanying the […]
Posted inUS
Nation’s Leading Press Freedom and Civil Liberties Groups Call on FCC to Abandon Its Attack on Net Neutrality
WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2017 — On Thursday afternoon, more than 30 press freedom, civil liberties and open government groups submitted a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to cancel the scheduled Dec. 14 vote to undermine the open-internet protections put in place in 2015. “You must not abandon Net Neutrality,” the […]
Posted inUS
Trump FCC Eliminates Local Broadcast Main Studio Requirement in a Handout to Sinclair That Will Harm Local Communities
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 2017 — The FCC voted on Tuesday to eliminate the “main studio rule,” which requires TV and radio broadcasters to maintain studios in or near the communities they serve. The party-line vote was led by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who has close ties to the Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the rule […]
Posted inUS
Trump’s FCC Advances Scheme to Gut Open-Internet Protections and End Net Neutrality
WASHINGTON, May 18, 2017 — On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission voted along party lines to begin a rulemaking process in order to jettison Title II protections and once again place broadband-access providers under Title I of the Communications Act — a move that would undermine the sound and successful basis for the FCC’s landmark […]
Posted inUS
Net Neutrality Rules and Title II Legal Authority Win Again in Court
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2017 — On Monday, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sitting en banc rejected the phone and cable industry’s ongoing legal effort to kill the FCC’s 2015 Net Neutrality rules. The common-sense rules are also under attack by new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who last week announced his […]
Posted inUS
House Republicans Vote to Destroy FCC’s Online Privacy Protections
WASHINGTON, March 28,2017 — On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a resolution of disapproval to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s landmark broadband-privacy rules, giving companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon free rein to spy on customers and sell their private information. The vote follows the Senate’s passage of the resolution last Thursday. More than […]
Posted inUS
Groups Urge Congress to Reject Industry Push to Undermine FCC Privacy Protections
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2017 — On Friday, a coalition of 19 racial justice, consumer protection, civil liberties, and privacy groups submitted a letter urging congressional leaders to reject calls for using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to undermine online privacy protections. The broadband and advertising lobbies are pressuring Congress to use the CRA to overturn […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Digital Denied: Free Press Report Exposes the Impact of Systemic Racism on Internet Adoption in U.S.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2016 — On Tuesday, Free Press released a comprehensive study examining and exposing links between the digital divide and systemic discrimination in America. Digital Denied takes a deep and detailed look at the role race plays in determining whether a person has affordable home access to high-speed internet services. The Free Press […]