The White House will “hopefully” make an announcement before 5 p.m. EDT Thursday on an executive order from President Donald Trump, said White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. A draft executive order seeks to clarify the scope of the tech industry’s content liability shield, potentially exposing platforms to DOJ and FTC scrutiny. Various shields allow platforms to censor conservative voices, McEnany said. The intention is to remove those shields and shed light on platform decisionmaking, she added.
President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday “pertaining to social media,” a White House spokesperson told reporters Wednesday evening. Another spokesperson previously indicated Trump would sign the order Wednesday night. The White House didn’t provide details on what the EO would do.
A long-awaited Copyright Office report on a key statute governing internet platforms said Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512 may need a revamp. The section's safe harbor operation "is unbalanced," CO said in a news release Thursday afternoon. "While the Office is not recommending any wholesale changes to section 512, the Report points out these and other areas where Congress may wish to consider legislation to rebuild the original balance between rightsholders and online service providers."
The main associations of state telecom commissioners and of local cable and telecoms overseers changed annual conference plans due to coronavirus precautions. They join many other events in going virtual this summer.
The FCC confirmed Monday that members' next meeting tentatively will include a vote on wireless infrastructure, as we reported last week. Other items potentially on tap for a June 9 vote are auction procedures for the $16.4 billion, 10-year high-cost USF; high-band spectrum action; and on ATSC 3.0.
The four items for Wednesday's monthly commissioners' meeting were OK'd 5-0, FCC officials told us this morning. During the meeting, which began at 10:30 a.m. EDT, an official said the items were approved on circulation, as expected. "We're doing this in record time," Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said of the gathering.
Sinclair agreed to a $48 million civil penalty as part of settling an FCC probe of the company's since-killed takeover of Tribune Media, the agency announced Wednesday. It's the highest civil penalty involving a broadcaster, the FCC said: The prior high was $24 million by Univision in 2007, as that company was being taken private. Now, Sinclair has licenses up for renewal.
FCBA canceled the annual December FCC chairman's dinner. It's one of the further-out telecom and tech events canceled so far due to the pandemic and resulting public gathering precautions.
NTIA has filled at least two policy roles, the agency confirmed Friday afternoon. Michigan State University law professor Adam Candeub was named deputy assistant secretary of commerce for the agency and former Charter Communications Group Vice President-Advanced Engineering Jim Medica became senior adviser.
ICANN rejected the Internet Society's proposed sale of Public Interest Registry to Ethos Capital after "completing extensive due diligence," Chairman Maarten Botterman blogged Thursday night. Directors found withholding consent to the transfer "is reasonable, and the right thing to do." The deal had attracted scrutiny from legislators and from at least one attorney general, while nonprofit advocates opposed it. The decision "sets a dangerous precedent with broad industry implications," said Ethos.