Let's keep the fight for our digital rights going in 2026! Make your contribution today: publicknowledge.org/end-of-year-... #techpolicy #fightcensorship #technology #holidays

Got an eye for design, a multimedia or journalism background, or strategic communications experience? Apply for our Spring 2026 Communications Internship! Learn more: publicknowledge.org/commsintern

After years of hearings about kids’ safety online, Congress still has little to show for its efforts — and last week's hearing showed few signs of progress. Read the breakdown from Policy Analyst @mwils.bsky.social: publicknowledge.org/the-kids-pac...

Last night, @publicknowledge.bsky.social and @freepress.bsky.social made sure FCC Chairman Brendan Carr got the message loud and clear: serve the public and hands off our #FirstAmendment rights! Learn more about how we're resisting censorship at publicknowledge.org

Tomorrow at 10:15 EST, @housecommerce.bsky.social is hosting a hearing titled "Legislative Solutions To Protect Children And Teens Online," in which lawmakers will discuss a package of 19 bills aimed at making kids safer online.

In March 2025, President Trump fired both Democrat Commissioners from FTC for the sole stated reason of disagreement with their policy views — an illegal act under existing statute governing the agency. Now, the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to change the law.

Today, a D.C. District Court Judge ruled that Meta did not violate antitrust law when it acquired Instagram & WhatsApp in the case FTC v. Meta. The FTC had argued that Meta (parent company of Facebook) used those acquisitions to maintain its dominance by neutralizing emerging competitive threats.

Yesterday, an Executive Order designed to prevent states from regulating AI within their own borders was leaked. If signed, this Executive Order would establish an AI litigation “task force” at the Justice Department to threaten, harass, & sue states that pass any bill deemed “unlawful.”

Former regulators accused FCC Chair Brendan Carr of “obliterating” the agency's credibility as an independent regulatory body at the People’s Oversight Hearing hosted today by @publicknowledge.bsky.social. Experts and advocates also discussed the FTC, CFPB. broadbandbreakfast.com/former-offic...

Happening this week! Don't miss our upcoming in-person event "The People's Oversight Hearing." We are 10 months into the 119th Congress, and American has yet to see an oversight hearing for independent agencies such as the FCC, FTC and CFPB — so we've decided to host our own.

From the "saw this one coming" department: in a recent blog post @publicknowledge.bsky.social noted that "When compared to the actual rules and practices of the Motion Picture Association it purports to emulate, Instagram’s claim [of PG-13 content] falls apart." publicknowledge.org/instagram-pg...

NOW: @publicknowledge.bsky.social colleague and SVP @haroldfeld.bsky.social testifies in Senate Commerce hearing on Uncle Sam and jawboning. He'll urge Congress to act to protect free speech from the Trump administration. Watch here: www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/10/part...

Though the name might sound familiar, Instagram's new PG-13 ratings system has little in common with its film industry counterpart. The latest from Policy Director @lisahmacpherson.bsky.social: publicknowledge.org/instagram-pg...

Last week, news media lobbyists flocked to the Hill to lobby for what they describe as “legislation to protect and support quality journalism” — which may very well include the embattled Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, or the #JCPA.

Apple removing ICEBlock, a legal app for monitoring ICE activity, from its app store at the behest of the federal government mirrors what it has done in other regimes. www.iceblock.app

“This is a level of censorship we haven’t seen in my lifetime.” @publicknowledge.bsky.social President and CEO @chrisjlewis.bsky.social weighs in with @nytimes.com on FCC Chair Carr's campaign against so-called "liberal bias" in media: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/t...

In Part 2 of this two-part blog series, Policy Director @lisahmacpherson.bsky.social breaks down the solutions news publishers are gravitating towards, as well as promising policy solutions to protect the public and business interest alike in this fast-moving space:

President Trump's latest lawsuit against the @nytimes.com is just yet another in a series of filings to threaten freedom of the press. Read more in the latest from Policy Analyst @mwils.bsky.social at the link below: publicknowledge.org/trump-defama...

"Perhaps no technology underpins more the everyday functioning of our increasingly digital world than cloud computing." Read the latest from @nickgarcia.bsky.social and @elisephillips.bsky.social for @techpolicypress.bsky.social on why the cloud should be our next public utility:

This month, the House Judiciary Committee hosted the hearing “Europe’s Threat to American Speech and Innovation”, focusing on an alleged threat that laws such as U.K.'s Online Safety Act & EU's Digital Services Act pose to U.S. free speech. But the evidence presented tells a different story.

Is it illegal to not buy ads on X? @publicknowledge.bsky.social Policy Director @lisahmacpherson.bsky.social and Policy Counsel @elisephillips.bsky.social weigh in with @arstechnica.com: arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

"As fans across the world celebrate the [pending] drop of her latest album, now is a good time to pause and reflect on how Taylor’s career has interacted with copyright...there are some lessons here for those interested in the intersection between copyright, creativity, and commerce."

Follow along as @publicknowledge.bsky.social colleague @mrose.ink tracks the insights from the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime & Terrorism hearing on AI and copyright

Today (and new time of 12pm): Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism hearing, "Too Big to Prosecute?: Examining the AI Industry’s Mass Ingestion of Copyrighted Works for AI Training." 1/3 www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-ac...

The Copyright Office finally released its long-awaited third installment on AI and fair use. But while the top-line conclusions were generally on point, the reasoning in their analysis misses the mark. The latest from @mrose.ink: publicknowledge.org/the-fatal-fa...

The FTC's proposed "click-to-cancel" rule would have been a great move for consumer protection. But when it came time to defend the measure in court, the Commission dropped the ball completely. Read the latest from @bergmayer.net: publicknowledge.org/why-click-to...

Last week, federal judges released two landmark decisions on artificial intelligence — both finding that AI training on copyrighted works is a protected fair use. Read the breakdown from @nickgarcia.bsky.social on what these rulings mean as well as their limitations at the link below:

The Senate just passed its budget bill, including efforts to auction off public spectrum. Under this text, the FCC could be forced to sell off as much as half of the currently unlicensed spectrum in the 6 GHz band -- which could lead to slower Wi-Fi. publicknowledge.org/public-knowl...

To be clear, this AI moratorium language that was struck from the Senate budget bill had NOTHING to do with AI development or innovation. Rather, it was an attempt to prevent states from regulating *anything* that could be perceived as touching an AI system at the state level.

As predicted, the FTC issued a consent order requiring ad agencies not “boycott” online publishers. But it ignores far more likely impacts of the merger on competition. My @publicknowledge.bsky.social colleague @elisephillips.bsky.social and I break it down. publicknowledge.org/update-the-f...

Typically, wonderfully spicy (and accurate) take on the “Protecting and Enhancing Public Access to Codes” (PRO CODES) Act from @publicknowledge.bsky.social colleague @mrose.ink Can't think of a less accurately named act. #DontPaywallTheLaw

Thanks to @amyklobuchar.com, Marsha Blackburn, & @blumenthal.senate.gov for reintroducing the Open App Markets Act to reduce gatekeeper power and realize the promise of true competition in the app economy. 🎉 Great step toward market fairness! publicknowledge.org/public-knowl...

A very interesting thesis, but it fails to differentiate - as some judges have begun to do - between "algorithmic curation" and product design features that have nothing to do with serving content. We wrote about this, too. 1/6 Is Internet Content Too Engaging? www.lawfaremedia.org/article/is-i...

I know a little something about advertising - and the FTC's premise that ad agencies "boycott" tech platforms "by refusing to place their clients’ advertisements on them" is BS. The FTC uses “boycott” like they use “censorship” - as a cudgel to further the Trump administration’s goals. More here 🧵

Opposition to the 10-year moratorium on state laws regulating AI keeps growing. To keep you up-to-date with the lawmakers, leaders, and advocacy groups speaking out, we’re launching NoAILawBan.org. Visit for a quick guide to who’s opposing the AI law ban.

“This isn’t your traditional Washington doyenne’s helmet-like bob…It’s touchable and time-consuming. It flows like disinformation.” Brilliant essay from Mattie Kahn. www.townandcountrymag.com/style/beauty...

The FTC had a comment call to investigate whether content moderation might constitute an unfair / deceptive business practice, & whether platforms might be engaging in anticompetitive acts. It inspired me to look at moderation of the lab leak hypothesis… open.substack.com/pub/agentsof...

"...the CEOs of the big platforms have given up....whether it’s Zuck throwing fact-checkers under the bus or Altman deciding he wants a cut of the impersonation industry, CEOs have decided they're no longer interested in reducing the prevalence of disinformation." www.niemanlab.org/2025/05/how-...

Public Knowledge Policy Director @lisahmacpherson.bsky.social writes for @techpolicypress.bsky.social that nearly a decade's worth of research indicates that not only do tech platforms advantage right-wing content, but social media moderation disproportionately silences marginalized voices instead:

Public Knowledge Policy Director @lisahmacpherson.bsky.social joins @techpolicypress.bsky.social to review the history behind the FTC’s request on tech "censorship," & suggests ways the agency could use its authority to actually improve content moderation and ensure free speech on platforms:

What if Google Chrome were no longer owned by Google? In the wake of the ruling in US v. Google, this could become a reality — and should, in order to effectively curb their monopoly power in the search and digital advertising markets. Read the latest from Policy Counsel @elisephillips.bsky.social:

Unfortunately, AI slop isn't just online. Original reporting by @404media.co: "many of the books on the reading list [produced by King Features, a subsidiary of Hearst] either do not exist or were written by other authors than the ones they are attributed to." www.niemanlab.org/2025/05/you-...

🚨 Today, Public Knowledge joined 16 other public interest, consumer rights, & library groups in urging FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson to protect consumers in the digital marketplace by establishing clear ground rules for digital ownership and sales of goods.

🧵1/ Near the end of the 118th Congress, we introduced a framework to evaluate legislation addressing AI-generated digital replicas. Since then, momentum has grown — fast. And last week, Congress passed the first-ever law on the issue: the #TAKEITDOWNAct.

Without regulatory intervention, streamers & broadcasters will continue to lock viewers in with exclusive deals & paywalls rather than provide a good watching experience. Watch colleague @bergmayer.net testify today at 10 a.m. ET: www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/5/field...

Colleague at @publicknowledge.bsky.social @bergmayer.net is offering testimony at the Senate Commerce hearing "Field of Streams: The New Channel Guide for Sports Fans.” Expect a call for lower barriers for fans to watch their faves. Watch the livestream ▶️▶️▶️ www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/5/field...

President Trump's attempt to end federal funding for NPR and PBS is blatant retaliation against America's primary public broadcasters over coverage the administration simply doesn’t like. [via @cnn.com]

I used to go to the TV "upfronts" where networks showed off their new programs, let us take selfies with the stars, and tried to secure ad placements each year. I hope my friends still in marketing add the "newsfronts" to their schedules and support news and democracy. www.axios.com/2025/04/29/n...

Today, the House of Representatives passed the “Tools To Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act" #TAKEITDOWNAct, a bill designed to address serious concerns of the digital era, but could also harm free speech and privacy in its current form.

Thank you to all who joined us for our event "Designing the Digital Platform Commission!" A very special thank you to our wonderful panelists; keynote speaker Kathleen Bradish, VP at American Antitrust Institute; and Meredith Whipple, @publicknowledge.bsky.social Interim CEO for opening remarks. 🎉