The Office of the New York Attorney General said in a new report that a campaign funded by the broadband industry submitted millions of fake comments supporting the 2017 repeal of net neutrality.

The shield from liability for social media companies has been grounded in Section 230 of a landmark 1996 telecommunications law. Trump and Republican lawmakers have persistently accused the social media companies, without evidence, of suppressing conservative viewpoints, and Trump portrayed his executive order as a remedy for bias. With Simington confirmed to the five-member FCC, there will then be a 2-2 split between Democratic and Republican commissioners. That likely will stymie Biden’s agenda until he’s able to get a fifth, Democratic FCC member confirmed, with an extended delay possible if the Republicans continue to control the Senate after the two Georgia Senate runoff elections. During Pai’s tenure, the FCC worked to free up spectrum for cellphone companies to enable them to roll out 5G.

The committee summoned the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google to testify during the hearing. Dorsey said Twitter was working closely with state election officials. Dorsey told Cruz that he does not believe that Twitter can influence elections because it's only one source of information. GOP senators raised with the executives an array of allegations of other bias on the platforms regarding Iran, China and Holocaust denial. “We approach our work without political bias, full stop," Pichai said.

WASHINGTON – Less than a week before Election Day, the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google are set to be grilled by Republican senators making unfounded allegations that the tech giants show anti-conservative bias. With the election looming, Republicans led by President Donald Trump have thrown a barrage of grievances at Big Tech’s social media platforms, which they accuse without evidence of deliberately suppressing conservative, religious and anti-abortion views. The tech platforms are gateways to news online. It proposes that Congress enact rules preventing tech platforms from taking local news content without fair payment. “For too long, social media platforms have hidden behind Section 230 protections to censor content that deviates from their beliefs,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the committee chairman, said recently.

MINNEAPOLIS Incarcerated people and their families said they are closely watching congressional debates about the next COVID-19 relief bill for proposed legislation that would drastically push down the cost of prison and jail phone calls. For years, they have advocated lowering rates that run as high as $25 for a 15-minute call. Now, they said, with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, the costs are especially debilitating, separating families at a crucial time. He said the suspension of most in-person visits at facilities nationwide have made calls back home even more important. They went from talking to him every day to talking to him a few times a week.

BEIJING China on Wednesday demanded Washington stop oppressing Chinese companies after U.S. regulators declared telecom equipment suppliers Huawei and ZTE to be national security threats. A foreign ministry spokesman accused Washington of abusing state power to hurt Chinese companies without any evidence.We once again urge the United States to stop abusing the concept of national security, deliberately discrediting China and unreasonably oppressing Chinese companies, said the spokesman, Zhao Lijian. Huaweis founder, Ren Zhengfei, said last year he would refuse official demands to reveal its customers secrets despite a law that obliges Chinese companies to cooperate with intelligence agencies. The FCC has designated Huawei and ZTE as national security risks, said the agencys chairman, Ajit Pai, in a statement. He said the companies threaten our national security.The decision affects mostly small, rural carriers because major U.S. phone companies dont use Chinese equipment.

The company, which is currently seeking the FCC's permission to merge with T-Mobile, claimed monthly credits for as many as 885,000 customers under the US government's Lifeline program. But Sprint was ineligible to claim the federal funds, the FCC said, because it failed to report that the customers were not actually using the subsidized service. "It's outrageous that a company would claim millions of taxpayer dollars for doing nothing," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The investigation into Sprint comes at a delicate time for the company as it seeks to complete its merger with T-Mobile. "When companies abuse the Lifeline program, we should throw the book at them," Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democratic FCC Commissioner, tweeted.

Net Neutrality is the internet’s guiding principle: It preserves our right to communicate freely online. Big phone and cable companies and their lobbyists filed suit almost as soon as the Net Neutrality rules were adopted. The vote for net neutrality in 2015 was also along party lines, but Democrats dominated then. The attempt to repeal net neutrality has triggered protests from consumer groups and internet companies. Google said in a statement that net neutrality rules "are working well for consumers and we're disappointed in the proposal announced today."