"I'm disappointed in the order, and you should be, too." I had the opportunity to update my @techpolicypress.bsky.social post explaining why the Google ad tech case matters to everyone. A judge's ruling this week ensures the illegal monopolist keeps its grip. www.techpolicy.press/the-google-a...

The Google Ad Tech Remedies Matter to You, Too

Lisa MacPherson, policy director at Public Knowledge, says the remedies ruling this week is disappointing, and ensures Google's dominant control will persist.

techpolicy.press

Can the Federal Communications Commission really strip Disney's broadcast licenses over DEI? @publicknowledge.bsky.social Legal Director @bergmayer.net joins C-SPAN to discuss recent actions by the FCC and more. Link below: www.c-span.org/program/wash...

We have a markup of a handful of kids online safety bills in Senate Commerce committee this morning. Out of the dozens of bills Chair Cruz could select, he chose: SCREEN Act (age verification for adult sites), Sen. Blackburn's KOSA, Markey's Youth AI Privacy Act, and Cruz's CHATBOT Act

Young people are being harmed right now, and this latest version of the KIDS Act offers real protection for kids while respecting their privacy and rejecting content/access bans. Learn why we support this bill & more from @mwils.bsky.social: publicknowledge.org/the-kids-act...

The KIDS Act Finally Gets Kids’ Online Safety Mostly Right

Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.

publicknowledge.org

Today, @trahan.house.gov and Rep. Jay Obernolte unveiled a discussion draft of the “Great American Artificial Intelligence Act of 2026” to create a federal transparency, evaluation, and oversight framework for frontier artificial intelligence development.

We're proud to announce the release of our latest paper, "The Blueprint for Equitable Digital Participation," by @publicknowledge.bsky.social Broadband Policy Director @alisavalentin.bsky.social & @weareunidosus.bsky.socialSenior Civil Rights Policy Advisor Claudia Ruiz, in collaboration with NDIA!

🚨 Today, Senators Marsha Blackburn, Chris Coons, Thom Tillis, & @klobuchar.senate.gov reintroduced the #NOFAKES Act, which would create a broad right of publicity that would address the problem of digital impersonation by prohibiting most unauthorized uses of a person’s voice or likeness.

Juries in two recent court cases reached verdicts that seem to show plaintiffs can plead around Section 230 and hold platforms liable for harms from their product design. The inevitable appeals will hinge on which design features are protected by Section 230 and which aren’t. 1/2

Public Knowledge@publicknowledge.bsky.social · 4mo ago

In her latest blog post, Policy Analyst @mwils.bsky.social breaks down which parts of platform design are covered by #Section230 — and which parts are not. publicknowledge.org/where-sectio...

The $111 billion bid from Paramount/Skydance for WBD would be the third merger attempt in ten years to successfully bolt Warner Bros. to a larger partner. But is the third time really the charm?

Advertisers avoiding placing ads next to harmful or misleading content isn’t “censorship” – it's capitalism at work. So why is the FTC treating it like a conspiracy? Read the latest from Policy Director @lisahmacpherson.bsky.social: publicknowledge.org/the-ftcs-new...

The FTC’s New Settlement With Ad Agencies Still Misses the Point

The FTC and a coalition of eight states reached settlements with three advertising agencies to resolve a complaint about whether the agencies had worked with third parties to anticompetitively boycott...

publicknowledge.org

Senate Commerce is holding an FTC oversight hearing this morning. Curiously, in announcing the hearing, Chair Cruz pointed to Biden FTC Chair Khan as "weaponizing the agency" as justification for the hearing... but Khan is long gone. Chair Ferguson & Commissioner Meador are witnesses

From public funding to community ownership to antitrust enforcement, there's a whole suite of policy options for saving local news. In her 2023 white paper, @lisahmacpherson.bsky.social makes the case for how to make the most of them. #LocalNewsDay

In late March, the @whitehouse-47.bsky.social released its National AI Legislative Framework — but the "framework" part of it seems to be missing. Read the latest from @natpurser.bsky.social:

On the White House AI Framework (If You Could Call It That)

The Trump administration's National AI Framework falls short of offering Americans any real mechanisms for accountability or oversight.

publicknowledge.org

Last week, the Trump administration moved to settle Murthy v. Missouri — but the core issue at hand remains unresolved. Read the latest from Policy Analyst @mwils.bsky.social: publicknowledge.org/murthy-v-mis...

Murthy v. Missouri Settlement Does Nothing To Combat Illegal Jawboning

The social media lawsuit Murthy v. Missouri, originally filed as Missouri v. Biden, has finally come to an end.

publicknowledge.org

“If verdicts continue along the lines of the NM and CA cases, we may see more concrete changes to platform design -- a prefered outcome than forcing platform changes via any new law that could very well stifle real free expression online.”

Morgan Wilsmann@mwils.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Juries in two different cases reached similar verdicts re: whether Meta & Google should be liable for harm minor users experience from using their platforms. To date, most attempts to make online platforms accountable for harms have failed - thanks to a combo of S230 liable shield & 1st Amend.

Senators @coons.senate.gov and Cornyn just reintroduced the PRO CODES Act, a bill that would extend copyright to safety and fire codes, effectively putting the law behind a paywall. Public Knowledge and 22 other organizations are pushing back. Here is why it matters:

Public Knowledge Continues To Oppose Bill Paywalling the Law

Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.

publicknowledge.org

Another Congressional hearing today related to online speech! Right now, Senate Commerce committee is holding a hearing "Liability or Deniability? Platform Power as Section 230 Turns 30". Witnesses range from Section 230 abolishers, to reformers, to absolutists. I'll be tracking the hearing 🧵

Liability or Deniability? Platform Power as Section 230 Turns 30

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene a full committee hearing titled “Liability or Deniability? Pl...

commerce.senate.gov

Just sayin' Brendan Carr Once Defended Free Speech. Now He Is Trump’s Chief Censor. www.thefp.com/p/brendan-ca...

Brendan Carr Once Defended Free Speech. Now He Is Trump’s Chief Censor.

Republicans criticized the Biden administration for silencing dissenting voices. Now that they're in power, those First Amendment worries have evaporated.

thefp.com

"....make no mistake, the sweep of changes we see has one main cause: the political effort to stifle robust national journalism." www.niemanlab.org/2026/03/news...

Newsonomics: Will national news shrink even faster than local news did?

"The sweep of changes we see has one main cause: the political effort to stifle robust national journalism."

niemanlab.org

Today, @housecommerce.bsky.social marked up a series of kids’ online safety bills limiting young people’s autonomy and internet access — many of which shift responsibility for product safety from the platforms designing unsafe products onto families instead. Our statement from @mwils.bsky.social:

Public Knowledge Warns Against Bills Limiting Children’s Internet Access, Barring States from Protecting Kids Online

Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.

publicknowledge.org

Who gets to shape technology policy? @publicknowledge.bsky.social announces the release of a new report, “Diversity in Early-Career Tech Policy Roles: Surveying Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities in the Field.” Join us for our upcoming webinar! RSVP: publicknowledge.org/diversityint...

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: More than a Seat: Who Gets to Shape Tech Policy. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

Following the release of the second Diversity in Technology Policy Study, Public Knowledge will host a public webinar to reflect on the findings, track progress since the first report, and examine whe...

publicknowledge.org

On Tuesday Feb. 24 at 3:00 p.m., join @publicknowledge.bsky.social and the Cathy Hughes School of Communications Department of Communications Studies at @howard.edu for a landmark discussion celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996!

You are correct. It is NOT the law. You can get the actual version of the law here: publicknowledge.org/equal-time-u... Which also predicts this will be used as an *excuse* by those who want to appease Trump, and this gives them political cover. /1

Equal Time, Unequal Enforcement: The Latest Move to Weaponize the FCC Against Trump Critics

As the 2026 election season approaches, FCC Chair Brendan Carr seems to be seeking new ways to weaponize the law on Trump's behalf.

publicknowledge.org

Cathy Gellis@cathygellis.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Cannot understand how this is something LAWYERS would say. It's not the law. It CAN'T be the law. But I love how Colbert destroyed privilege by sharing the lawyers' advice. (Although arguably the lawyers destroyed it since they aren't HIS lawyers, and whether there's common interest is dubious.)

CDT’s George Slover: "This important legislation helps ensure that in the Age of Technology, consumers still have the basic right they have enjoyed for centuries -- the right to choose where and how we fix what we own.” #FairRepairAct

REPRESENTATIVE MORELLE, SENATOR LUJÁN INTRODUCE FAIR REPAIR ACT

(Washington, D.C.)—Today, Congressman Joe Morelle and Senator Ben Ray Luján introduced the Fair Repair Act, legislation to guarantee consumers and small businesses a right to repair their own products by requiring manufacturers to make diagnostic repair information, parts, and tools readily available.

morelle.house.gov

Keeping #Section230 as is would be politically untenable, but thoughtful reform can address real harms without incentivizing platforms to silence speech or creating barriers that only #BigTech can overcome.

Congressional lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are gearing up for #Section230 repeal, but this could mean an end to social media as we know it.

Make no mistake: The arrest of @donlemonofficial.bsky.social along with three other journalists for doing their jobs marks the next step in the Trump administration's attack on free speech and the free press. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Don Lemon arrested by federal authorities after protest at Minnesota church service

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a Friday post on X that Lemon was arrested alongside three others "in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota."

nbcnews.com

Last week, FCC Chair Carr announced that broadcasters can't rely on 20+ years of precedent saying talk shows are bona fide newscasts exempt from the equal opportunity rule. As @haroldfeld.bsky.social notes, "for my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law." publicknowledge.org/equal-time-u...

Equal Time, Unequal Enforcement: The Latest Move to Weaponize the FCC Against Trump Critics

As the 2026 election season approaches, FCC Chair Brendan Carr seems to be seeking new ways to weaponize the law on Trump's behalf.

publicknowledge.org

"The Grok debacle reinforces how hollow 'censorship' is as an epithet... Lawmakers who usually clamor to protect children online did not speak up, afraid of being branded 'censorial.'" Insightful perspective from @berinszoka.bsky.social and @noupside.bsky.social www.lawfaremedia.org/article/grok...

Grok, ‘Censorship,’ & the Collapse of Accountability

Grok’s nudification scandal shows how “free speech” rhetoric is being used to obscure any ethical responsibility for real-world harm.

lawfaremedia.org