Blog

One year ago today, I took over the reins as President and CEO of Public Knowledge. Our nation has faced some challenges in these unprecedented times, and I could not be prouder of the work our staff has accomplished over the past year. In addition to our daily outreach to policymakers, coalitions, and the public, […]
Read MoreIs #StopHateForProfit the Big Reckoning for Facebook? A Former Marketing Leader Isn’t So Sure
July 9, 2020 Content Moderation
Over the past couple of weeks, a who’s who of over 500 brands, including Verizon, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Levi’s, Starbucks, Reebok, Adidas, and Ford, announced they would withdraw their advertising from Facebook for the month of July or longer. Many were responding to the #StopHateForProfit campaign, organized by a coalition of civil rights and public interest […]
Read MoreAn Ounce of Preventive Regulation is Worth a Pound of Antitrust Enforcement: The Case for Platform CPNI
July 7, 2020 CPNI, Data Protection, FCC, Legislation, Platform Competition, Platform Regulation, Platform Regulation Series, white paper
Last year, Public Knowledge and Roosevelt Institute published my book, The Case for the Digital Platform Act, I argued there that we could define digital platforms as a distinct sector of the economy, and that the structure of these businesses and the nature of the sector combined to encourage behaviors that create challenges for existing […]
Read MoreLibraries Are Updating for Today’s Digital Needs. Congress Needs to Clear the Way.
July 1, 2020 CDL, controlled digital lending, Copyright, Copyright Reform, Digital First Sale, Ereaders, Fair Use, First Sale Doctrine, Legislation, Libraries
Libraries have been central to culture, education, and research for centuries. Libraries have been part of America since the early 18th Century; the most famous early American library, (though not the first), was founded by Benjamin Franklin and others in Philadelphia in 1731. Libraries have taken many shapes — they’ve been public and private; membership-based […]
Read MoreDue Process for Content Moderation Doesn’t Mean “Only Do Things I Agree With”
June 29, 2020 Content Moderation, Lesiglation, Platform Regulation, Section 230, Section 230 Series
There’s a common theme in many proposals to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — the idea that companies need to just follow their terms of service consistently and fairly. Of course, I agree. Who doesn’t? As I detailed in a paper in 2018, I believe that dominant platforms should give their users […]
Read MoreSoftware Platforms Benefit by Empowering Developers and Putting Users First
June 23, 2020 app stores, Platform Competition, Platform Regulation, white paper
Today, we’re releasing a new paper, “Tending the Garden: How to Ensure that App Stores Put Users First.” It is topical, because this week is also Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference — an annual event primarily geared toward software creators. This event gives them a preview of upcoming operating system versions and application programming interfaces (APIs) […]
Read MoreMore Powerful Than Ever: Do We Need a Regulator for Digital Platforms?
June 22, 2020 Digital Regulator, Webinar SeriesThis is our discussion on whether a new digital regulator is necessary — and what one might look like — to effectively promote competition and fairness on these powerful platforms.
Read MoreMaine Was Sued for Trying to Modernize Privacy Laws
June 8, 2020 Broadband Privacy, Consumer Privacy, Data Protection, Legislation, Litigation, Privacy
There are very few actions as immediately and obviously intrusive as having your mail read. No matter your age or place — or how much you still use physical mail — the right to private communications is an established social norm. Whether I send a letter, text, or email, I expect no one but the […]
Read MoreBreaking Down and Taking Down Trump’s Latest Proposed Executive Order Spanking Social Media
June 4, 2020 Content Moderation, Disinformation, FCC, First Amendment, Free Expression, Freedom of Expression, FTC, Legal Analysis, Litigation, misinformation, Net Neutrality, Platform Regulation, Section 230
Bashing social media for supposed liberal bias has become pretty standard fare for some conservative pundits and politicians. This remains true despite zero evidence of any kind of bias by social media companies against conservative content or Republican politicians. In fairness, Democratic political leaders have made similar accusations. For example, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has […]
Read MoreAT&T is Reminding Us Why the Video Marketplace Was Traditionally Highly Regulated
June 3, 2020 Anticompetitive mergers, AT&T, AT&T Time Warner, ATTTime Warner, Data Caps, Media Consolidation, Net Neutrality, Time Warner
When Public Knowledge came out against the proposed AT&T/Time Warner merger in 2017, we were worried that the merger would create both the incentive for the combined company to withhold, or charge more for its own content to rival distributors, and to discriminate against competing content on its own distribution services. The merger went through […]
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