Free Press: FCC Should Aggressively Enforce Comcast-NBC Merger Conditions

WASHINGTON -- On Monday, Bloomberg filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission alleging that Comcast has failed to implement the news “neighborhooding” condition of its merger with NBC Universal.

In response to the complaint, Free Press Policy Counsel Corie Wright made the following statement:

“We hope the FCC will take seriously Bloomberg’s complaint. Free Press continues to believe that no amount of conditions can fix the harms caused by the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal. Nevertheless, the FCC made a bargain on behalf of the public to provide certain consumer protections in exchange for approval of the merger. It should uphold those promises now. We urge the Commission to aggressively enforce all conditions placed on the merger and to ensure that public interest policy does not become mere window dressing for merger approval.”

Internet Speech Cases Turn on Procedural Grounds as the Supreme Court Articulates Strong First Amendment Protections for Content Moderation

While the Court remanded these cases for more fact-finding by the lower courts, it noted laws that prevent platforms from deciding which speech it will or will not host are “unlikely to withstand First Amendment scrutiny.”
California Bill That Would Support Local Journalism Jobs Passes the State Senate

As the bill moves to the state Assembly, lawmakers must ensure that resulting revenues prioritize community-centered and noncommercial outlets.
Supreme Court Ruling on Social Media Affirms the First Amendment and the Government’s Responsibility to Protect the Public from the Harms of Online Misinformation

The case arose out of the Biden administration’s efforts to call on social-media platforms to remove lies about the COVID-19 pandemic and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Internet Speech Cases Turn on Procedural Grounds as the Supreme Court Articulates Strong First Amendment Protections for Content Moderation

California Bill That Would Support Local Journalism Jobs Passes the State Senate

Supreme Court Ruling on Social Media Affirms the First Amendment and the Government’s Responsibility to Protect the Public from the Harms of Online Misinformation