By Christopher Bing, Reuters, 3-30-19 Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg called on Saturday for regulators to play a “more active role” in establishing rules that govern the internet, as the world’s largest social media network struggles to defuse criticism. Zuckerberg, whose company is under pressure for failing to adequately police content and protect user privacy [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with other amici) filed with the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada in Toll v. Gilman. The case involves a defamation suit brought by Gilman against Toll, a reporter for an online news site, seeking disclosure of Toll’s news sources. The brief argues that Nevada’s shield law is [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with other amici) filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media. The brief argues that FMI’s purported “plain text” reading of Exemption 4, under which government agencies may withhold records if a third party claims that the information is either kept private, or, [...]
By Susan Svrluga, washingtonpost.com, 3-21-19 President Trump signed an executive order Thursday protecting freedom of speech on college campuses, surrounded by student activists who have said conservative views are suppressed at universities. Trump said he was taking “historic action to defend American students and American values that have been under siege.” The order does not, [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-19-19 Facebook has settled complaints and lawsuits with the ACLU, Communications Workers of America, and the National Fair Housing Alliance over allegations that its paid ad platform allowed for discrimination in employment, housing, and credit advertising. In addition to changes in the platform, Facebook has also agreed to [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-18-19 President Donald Trump has once again recommended phasing out federal funding for noncommercial TV and radio--comprising about 15% of noncom's total budget--but if recent past is any guide, he does not have enough support in Congress on either side of the aisle. The phase-out was part of [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-13-19 Broadcasters and movie studios rate the TV content ratings/guideline system as working quite well, pointing to "public surveys" over a decade that show lots of folks are using the guidelines and that the ratings get "consistently high marks for accuracy." They also say the ratings oversight board [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-13-19 There was some bipartisan talk out of the Hill after all this week amidst the partisan – and policy-driven – rancor. At about the same time House Communications Subcommittee members seemed far apart on a bill that would restore FCC net neutrality rules, including some non-starter elements [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with other amici) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Croce v. New York Times Co. The case involved a defamation claim brought by cancer researcher and professor Carlo M. Croce, M.D., against the New York Times. The amicus brief focused on the “balanced [...]
By John Eggerton, Broadcasting & Cable Online, 3-4-19 The FCC has set comment dates on issues teed up in the 2018 Quadrennial Regulatory Review. Comments are due April 29 and reply comments May 29. The FCC is mandated by Congress to look at its broadcast ownership rules every four years to see if they remain [...]