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

Today, @commerce.senate.gov will host a markup session of bills intended to protect kids online, including the Youth AI Privacy Act. The bill would limit how chatbots use kids’ data and safeguard against manipulative design features – all without affecting user privacy or free speech.

🚨 Today, @publicknowledge.bsky.social filed an amicus brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in the landmark search case of U.S. v. Google, urging the court to reaffirm the finding that Google had maintained an illegal monopoly in the search and search ad markets.

The 19th century had land rushes. The 21st century has a "spectrum rush" — and the stakes are invisible real estate 300 miles up.

We're #hiring! Join us as Senior Policy Counsel/Analyst to help fight for an open internet & affordable broadband for all. 5+ yrs policy exp, DC or remote, $100K–$121K + benefits. Apply today at the link below: publicknowledge.org/policy_analyst

"Whenever you get into the copyright realm, a lot of judges just decide it's all vibes." Senior Policy Counsel @mrose.ink breaks down Google and Reddit's uphill DMCA battles against @serpapi.com — and why the bigger risk is a broader "re-enclosure" of the open web. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

“Google and Reddit do not own the Internet," web scraper says after court win

Google's and Reddit's use of DMCA to fight web scraper is bizarre, expert says.

arstechnica.com

What happens when telecom companies are allowed to walk away from providing basic, reliable phone service? Senior Vice President @haroldfeld.bsky.social weighs in on the Unbuffered podacst: share.transistor.fm/s/25b5e851

Dialing Back Protections: The Battle for California's Lifelines - Episode 18 of Unbuffered | Unbuffered | Episode 18

What happens when telecom companies are allowed to walk away from providing basic, reliable phone service? Chris, Harold, and Arturo explore AT&T’s push to end its landline commitments in California a...

share.transistor.fm

Today, the FCC released a Report and Order, adopted yesterday, that weakens key transparency and accountability requirements for broadband providers’ consumer labels. Broadband labels are designed to help consumers compare plans and understand what they will actually pay for broadband service.

Congress agrees AI chatbots need guardrails for kids — but they very much do not agree on how. Policy Analyst @mwils.bsky.social breaks down why @markey.senate.gov's Youth AI Privacy Act is the right model:

Today, @markey.senate.gov introduced the “Youth AI Privacy Act,” a bill that would limit how AI chatbots use children’s data and safeguard against manipulative design features – all without enacting invasive age verification systems or content restrictions that restrict free speech.

🎉Today, @balint.house.gov and @velazquez.house.gov introduced the “Online Sellers’ Bill of Rights Act” to protect online sellers from having their goods or funds improperly detained by platforms. Read more in our statement from Legal Director @bergmayer.net: publicknowledge.org/public-knowl...

Public Knowledge Applauds Bill To Protect Online Sellers from Arbitrary Treatment

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

here's 180 seconds on why we need to stop a billionaire media merger, as told by the people who are about to be screwed by the merger

More Perfect Union@moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 3w ago

Billionaire oligarchs are out to destroy cinema as we know it. Workers are sounding the alarm that the $110 billion Paramount-Warner megamerger will bring mass layoffs, cutbacks, and movie theater shutdowns across America. /1

Tomorrow at 9:45 AM! @publicknowledge.bsky.social Senior Vice President @haroldfeld.bsky.social will join the FCC's IP Transition Workshop for the panel “The Right Interconnection Framework for and All-IP World.” Tune in using the link below: www.fcc.gov/news-events/...

🚨 Today, a group of 12 state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit against Paramount/Skydance to halt its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, alleging that the merger would cause harm to competition, reduce quality for TV and movie content, and raise prices for consumers.

ABC is right on this one. You don't have to like their coverage to see the danger here. Handing government the power to decide what's newsworthy and which guests to feature is a threat to press freedom, no matter which party is in charge.

The Hollywood Reporter@thr.com · 4w ago

ABC is going to bat for 'The View.' "The First Amendment does not permit the government to sit in an editor’s chair," the network tells the FCC.

Mark your calendars! 🗓️ On July 21, join us in DC for the panel event "How Challengers Thrive: Why Competition Matters for AI, Security, and the Open Internet," feat. @chrisjlewis.bsky.social, President and CEO at @publicknowledge.bsky.social. RSVP: form.jotform.com/261617630959...

This fall, @publicknowledge.bsky.social turns 25! 🎉 We've spent a quarter century of fighting for the open internet – from defeating online censorship laws, to taking on Big Tech, to fighting for #netneutrality rules in Congress and the courts. Read our story and join the celebration.

Public Knowledge 25th Anniversary

Join Public Knowledge as we celebrate 25 years of fighting for the public interest.

publicknowledge.org

We're hiring! Apply now to join our Government Affairs team at publicknowledge.org/govtaffairs!

Government Affairs Policy Counsel/Advocate - Public Knowledge - Career Page

Apply to Government Affairs Policy Counsel/Advocate at Public Knowledge in Washington, DC.

publicknowledge.org

The House IP Subcommittee is back on its BS. Now they’re trying to push site blocking legislation. The idea that DNS level blocking works and hasn’t caused problems is entirely a PR campaign. Ask anyone in Spain how La Liga’s blocking is working for them.

Join Claudia Ruiz @weareunidosus.bsky.social, @alisavalentin.bsky.social, Gina Cooper Benjamin at NDIA, + more on July 1 at 1PM ET for a @bentoninstitute.bsky.social webinar on how affordable, reliable high-speed internet is necessary to participate in modern-day life. www.benton.org/event/bluepr...

The Blueprint for Equitable Digital Participation

Join the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society on July 1 at 1:00 p.m. ET for a webinar about how affordable, reliable high-speed internet is a foundational prerequisite for participation in modern-...

benton.org

What if broadband policy started with people in need, rather than in Washington? Justin Hendrix talks with Public Knowledge's Alisa Valentin and UnidosUS's Claudia Ruiz about their new in-depth report centering the households stranded on the wrong side of the digital divide.

Imagining Broadband Policy of, by, and for the People

A conversation with Alisa Valentin, broadband policy director at Public Knowledge, and Claudia Ruiz, senior civil rights policy advisor at UnidosUS.

buff.ly

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

The Supreme Court rules in Trump v. Slaughter that President Trump can fire FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter without cause, striking down the FTC Act’s protections against at-will removal -- undermining democracy in the process. More: publicknowledge.org/supreme-cour...

Supreme Court Undermines Congress, FTC, and Independent Agencies, Threatening Consumers and Democracy

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

"Congress should be concerned that this FCC is getting ahead of its efforts to modernize USF programs by creating misleading narratives and distorting the debate." — Public Knowledge Broadband Policy Director @alisavalentin.bsky.social in @arstechnica.com: arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

FCC may kill $2B program that connects schools and libraries to Internet

Carr cites screen time concerns, is accused of trying to be "the nation’s parent."

arstechnica.com

Today, the FCC voted to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on progress on the E-Rate program's efforts to ensure affordable broadband access for schools and libraries, as well as how the agency can protect children using E-Rate-funded networks.

🎉 This week, @housecommerce.bsky.social Chair Brett Guthrie and Ranking Member Frank Pallone reached an agreement on the “Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act” to set stricter online safety standards for kids.

🚨 Today, @publicknowledge.bsky.social filed comments urging the Federal Communications Commission to grant Disney/ABC's petition and confirm that "The View" remains exempt from Section 315’s equal opportunities requirement as a bona fide news program.

We're proud to join @cdt.org and partners in urging the Senate Judiciary Committee not to advance the NO FAKES Act. As written, the bill threatens 1A–protected speech and could leave ordinary people with less control over their own likeness, not more. Full letter: publicknowledge.org/policy/coali...

Coalition Letter To Congress Opposing NO FAKES Act

The bill as proposed would create a broad right of publicity that would address the problem of digital impersonation by prohibiting most unauthorized uses of another person’s voice or likeness. Learn ...

publicknowledge.org

As John Bergmayer, our Legal Director, so aptly points out, "No matter what kind of freedom you subscribe to — if you believe in free markets, the free press, the rule of law — it (this merger) violates all of them.”

Brad Friedman / The BRAD BLOG@thebradblog.bsky.social · 2mo ago

‘Just a Flat Anti-Trust Violation’: DOJ Defies Career Staff to Okay Paramount-Warner Deal: Today's #BradCast Guest: John Bergmayer of @publicknowledge.bsky.social on the corrupt merger, threat to CNN; Also: Return of the fake electors! In NV, GA and WI!... FULL STORY, LISTEN: bradblog.com?p=17691

As lawmakers in the U.S. and abroad debate age verification, social media restrictions, and new child online safety rules, the stakes for getting age assurance right have never been higher. 1/5