Tag: Policy
Google subsidiary agrees to pursue internet “diversification” in Asia to block China access to U.S. market
The global internet continues to disintegrate into regional internets. Yesterday, the FCC authorized a Google subsidiary, GU Holdings, to open a submarine fiber optic link between the U.S. and Taiwan, while continuing to block the company’s expansion of the cable to Hong Kong. The cable, operated by Pacific Light Data…
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Deliveroo, Graphcore and other big UK startups say they’re being cut out of COVID-19 lending relief
The UK government, like a number of other countries around the world such as the US, has stepped up its pace in providing relief in the form of loans for businesses being impacted by the coronavirus health crisis and the related shutdown that we’ve seen across the economy and life…
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Bernie Sanders ends his historic campaign for the presidency
On Wednesday, two-time Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders announced that he would end his bid for the party’s nomination, marking an end to a deeply influential progressive political campaign. Sanders built momentum quickly in the 2020 race, with strong early showings in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, but his momentum was…
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France is officially working on ‘Stop Covid’ contact-tracing app
France’s health minister Olivier Véran and digital minister Cédric O have officially announced that the French government is working on a smartphone app to slow the spread of coronavirus. The government is putting a stamp of approval on the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT) project but remains cautious about what…
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The US is formalizing Team Telecom rules to restrict foreign ownership of internet and telecom assets
It has the simplest name, but the sort of shadowy overtones that national security writers lust after. Team Telecom, a mostly informal working committee of the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice (along with affiliated agencies) has for years been quietly tasked with evaluating and maintaining the security of…
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The pandemic is already reshaping tech’s misinformation crisis
Since 2016, social media companies have faced an endless barrage of bad press and public criticism for failing to anticipate how their platforms could be used for dark purposes at the scale of populations—undermining democracies around the world, say, or sowing social division and even fueling genocide. As COVID-19 plunges…
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