Meta’s announcement Tuesday that it will scrap fact-checking on Facebook is a “good step in the right direction,” said FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr in a post on X. “I look forward to monitoring these developments and their implementation. The work continues until the censorship cartel is completely dismantled and destroyed.” Carr, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to head the FCC, wrote to Facebook questioning its use of fact-checkers (see 2412160052), and has previously named fact-checkers and social media companies as components of the "censorship cartel," a term that he has frequently used in interviews and social media posts. Other components of the cartel include President Joe Biden’s administration, advertising agencies and European governments, Carr has said. In a Facebook video Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would shift to using crowdsourced fact-checking, similar to X. Carr credited Trump with causing the change at Meta. “President Trump’s resolute and strong support for the free speech rights of everyday Americans is already paying dividends,” he said. During a news conference Tuesday, Trump responded “probably” when asked if Meta’s shift was a response to his threats, which included calling for Zuckerberg to be imprisoned for life. “Meta is a private company that can decide how it manages its platform,” responded FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez in an X post Tuesday. “However, under the First Amendment, government threats to private companies over speech can have a chilling effect and are dangerous.” "As our database of false narratives continues to demonstrate, Meta has perennially been a home for Russian, Chinese, and Iranian disinformation," said Gordon Crovitz, co-CEO of fact-checking service NewsGuard, in an emailed statement. "Now, Meta apparently has decided to open the floodgates completely."Public interest groups condemned Meta’s changes. “Everyone should be concerned when major technology firms and their billionaire owners kowtow to a leader like Trump who is intent on undermining the checks and balances that are fundamental to a healthy democracy,” Free Press Senior Counsel Nora Benavidez said in a news release. Said Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer, “With this announcement, Mark Zuckerberg's playbook is as clear as day: Protect Meta's bottom line and cozy up to political leaders while leaving users to fend for themselves.” Ishan Mehta, Common Cause Media and Democracy program director, said, “Americans deserve to know the truth, and Meta’s move to end its third-party fact checking opens the door to endless political lies and disinformation.” Meta’s recent decision to move away from third-party fact-checking is a stark reminder of the growing challenges posed by misinformation online," NAB said in a blog post Tuesday touting the reliability of broadcast news. "While Big Tech platforms operate without any constraints, local stations are bound by regulations that haven’t kept pace with the marketplace," it added. "Policymakers must act to modernize these rules, leveling the playing field so local stations can continue providing the high-quality journalism communities depend on."
Lawmakers and officials expect that long-standing DOD objections to repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band and other military-controlled frequencies will remain a flashpoint in negotiations during the new Congress as GOP leaders eye using an upcoming budget reconciliation package to move on spectrum legislation. Observers eyed potential friction from Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., if she succeeds in her bid to become Senate Communications Subcommittee chair (see 2412180052) given her well-known disagreement with new Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on DOD spectrum issues.
The planned Department of Government Efficiency should apply “bulldozer treatment” to MVPD regulations, which will ease burdens on providers that are bleeding subscribers, said former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly in a post for the Free State Foundation Monday. “The video marketplace is still stuck with many mandates and obligations created 30 years ago or more,” O’Rielly wrote. “DOGE could provide a great service by giving this sector a good shakeout and squaring any remaining obligations with how American families actually consume video content.” Comparing the modern video market to its past iterations “is like comparing space travel to a donkey ride,” O’Rielly added. “There can be no justification for keeping current burdens when providers can and should escape to new business models in response.” It would be “ridiculous” to try to apply the same rules cable providers operate under to new video businesses, he wrote. “Can anyone imagine policymakers arguing that the space-wasteful and unwatched public access programming must be included on YouTube or Meta’s Reels?” O’Rielly didn’t specify which video regulations DOGE should target, but said it should avoid retransmission consent because it would draw too much pushback. “Thumping old agency requirements that are no longer needed in the modern world is a worthy and sensible task.”
The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition is seeking review of a waiver approved for the Wi-Fi Alliance allowing automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band to take building entry loss into account for “composite” standard-power and low-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology approved the waiver last month (see 2412050049). “Did OET’s finding that special circumstances warranted grant of the Waiver Request conflict with case precedent regarding what constitutes special circumstances?” FWCC asked in a filing Monday in docket 23-107. Taken through delegated authority, the action “conflicts with statute, regulation, case precedent, or established Commission policy,” in violation of FCC rules, the group said: “OET erred by failing to articulate ‘special circumstances beyond those considered during regular rulemaking.’”
Attorneys for Maurine and Matthew Molak asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to restart their challenge of a July order that lets schools and libraries use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2409230024). In September, the court dismissed the case, saying it lacked jurisdiction (see 2409260046). Petitioners “wish to inform the panel that, after nearly six months, they are still waiting on the FCC to rule on their July 2024 request that the agency reconsider its … ‘Hotspots Order,’ which subsidizes Wi-Fi hotspots anywhere students go,” said a Monday filing at the court: “It seems the FCC is content to ignore the petition for reconsideration, safe in the belief that as long as the petition remains pending the agency can both implement its unlawful policy and avoid judicial review.” The filing in docket 23-60641 also notified the court of the 6th Circuit’s recent decision vacating the FCC’s net neutrality order (see 2501020047) as it ponders a second case on school bus Wi-Fi. Judges heard oral argument in that case in November (see 2411040061). That decision “slams the door on the FCC’s contention in this case that the Declaratory Ruling expanding E-Rate subsidies for Wi-Fi on school buses is authorized” by the Communication Act section on the USF, the filing said. The Molaks brought both cases because they oppose unsupervised social media access on school buses. The Molaks' son David died by suicide after he was bullied online as a 16-year-old.
The FCC Wireline Bureau is seeking comment on the latest National Exchange Carrier Association proposal to modify interstate average schedule formulas, said a public notice Monday. “NECA proposes formula changes that would result in a 6.92% overall increase in settlements at constant demand” said the Dec. 19 NECA proposal. Such modifications are historically proposed by NECA and granted by the bureau each year. FCC rules require NECA to annually propose modifications or certify that no revisions are necessary. The latest proposed modifications would be effective July 1, 2025, until June 30, 2026. Comments are due in docket 24-685 on Feb. 5, replies Feb. 20.
Some FCC proposals for improving the Robocall Mitigation Database won’t address bad actors, Incompas said in an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 24-213. For example, the agency shouldn’t assess a base $10,000 fine when telephone providers submit inaccurate but “readily curable” information to the Robocall Mitigation Database, Incompas said. “Providers should not be assessed a base forfeiture unless they have either failed to respond to the Commission requests to update information in their RMD filing or ‘knowingly’ submitted inaccurate data,” Incompas said. In addition, the FCC shouldn’t require a $100 filing fee for RMD filings. An FCC proposal requiring multifactor authentication to access the database is also “unlikely to produce benefits that justify the additional burden,” Incompas added. “Placing an additional layer of security on the RMD will further burden voice service providers that conduct robocall mitigation on a team-wide basis and may make it harder to update the RMD if the multi-factor authentication point of contact is not available.” Accordingly, Incompas “urges the Commission to ensure that the administrative changes it is pursuing are warranted and will have the desired impact of addressing and removing bad actors engaged in illegal activity.”
House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., on Monday hailed the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling last week (see 2501020047) vacating the FCC’s April net neutrality order. “The American people” in the November elections “voted to reject Democrats’ heavy-handed regulatory agenda,” Guthrie said in a statement. “Now, the courts are finding that the Biden-Harris Administration’s net neutrality rules were unlawful in the first place.” Republicans “are ready to move on from misguided, burdensome approaches to internet regulation and support innovations leading to increased speeds and investment,” he said: “I am thrilled by this decision, which is a precursor to many more pro-innovation developments still to come.” Hudson said he will “work with [President-elect] Donald Trump to ensure faster, more reliable, and more affordable internet access for all Americans. The court’s decision to strike down these Obama-era regulations is good news for the American people.”
Cable broadband subscriber losses should moderate this year, with fiber and fixed wireless providers' gains plateauing, LightShed Management wrote Monday. In addition, there could be renewed M&A interest in cable, LightShed said, triggered by slower growth across all connectivity companies and favorable regulatory sentiment. However, none of the three major wireless carriers seems a likely buyer. Moreover, LightShed sees the possibility of a U.S. Supreme Court stay preventing the TikTok divestiture/ban from taking effect Jan. 19. The Trump administration will likely devise terms that safeguard users' data security and mitigate national security concerns. Also expect rollout of a more-robust direct-to-device service via SpaceX and T-Mobile as additional satellites are launched and FCC power restrictions are resolved, it said. LightShed predicted the next FCC will provide a waiver of the power limits. It said with more satellites and higher power, the service could extend to IoT. After the Skydance/Paramount deal closes in the first half, Paramount will likely slash its linear cable network operations, shedding some networks, LightShed predicted, and it will invest those savings into streaming. A Trump administration ban on pharmaceutical advertising on TV could drive TV station group M&A, it added.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated an NPRM Monday to start auctioning AWS-3 spectrum that will fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (see 2412240036). Congress agreed to send an additional $3.08 billion for carriers to rip and replace unsecure network equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE, though questions remain about whether that amount will suffice since the program's total is based on cost estimates filed years ago (see 2412310016). The auction would be the first since the agency’s general auction authority expired in March 2023. Rosenworcel is seeking approval of the NPRM through an electronic vote by commissioners. The NPRM “would propose updates to the service-specific competitive bidding rules to grant licenses for spectrum in the FCC’s inventory in the AWS-3 spectrum bands (generally the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands),” said a news release. The FCC assigned the majority of AWS-3 licenses in an auction that ended Jan. 29, 2017. “Nevertheless, there remains spectrum in these bands that is not currently licensed due to various circumstances,” the release said: “Pursuant to the Congressional mandate, the Commission will now offer licenses for the unassigned AWS-3 spectrum in a new auction.” The FCC said the NPRM also would propose to update definitions of small and very small businesses “to conform with the Small Business Act’s five-year lookback period that has been used in recent spectrum auctions.” Rosenworcel cited Salt Typhoon, the Chinese government-associated effort at hacking U.S. telecom networks (see 2411190073), in seeking quick action on the NPRM. "With ‘Salt Typhoon’ and other recent incidents, we are all acutely aware of the risk posed by Chinese hackers and intelligence services to our privacy, economy, and security,” Rosenworcel said. “I am confident that the FCC’s world-leading and award-winning auction team will meet this important moment.” Rosenworcel, a Democrat, plans to leave the FCC in two weeks, when Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr is expected to replace her as chair.