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Presentations & Interviews ICLE Associate Director of Legal Research Ben Sperry was a guest on the Mornings with Brian Haldane show on Talk 107.3 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to discuss the role of targeted digital advertising in recent public debates surrounding online safety for children and teens. The full segment is embedded below.
https://laweconcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Mornings-with-Brian-Haldane-Ben-Sperry-02-27-2023-Talk-10-1.mp3
ICLE Associate Director of Legal Research Ben Sperry was a guest on the Mornings with Brian Haldane show on Talk 107.3 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to discuss the role of targeted digital advertising in recent public debates surrounding online safety for children and teens. The full segment is embedded below.
Popular Media The topic of social media’s impact on childhood mental health has rapidly emerged as a hot-button political debate, becoming the subject of a hearing of the Senate . . .
The topic of social media’s impact on childhood mental health has rapidly emerged as a hot-button political debate, becoming the subject of a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee and earning a mention in President Biden’s State of the Union address. And indeed, there is a growing body of research that shows children are increasingly struggling with mental-health issues. That is a real problem, but it’s one that shouldn’t be unfairly conflated with the practice of data collection for targeted advertising.
Read the full piece here.
TOTM In our previous post on Gonzalez v. Google LLC, which will come before the U.S. Supreme Court for oral arguments Feb. 21, Kristian Stout and I argued that, . . .
In our previous post on Gonzalez v. Google LLC, which will come before the U.S. Supreme Court for oral arguments Feb. 21, Kristian Stout and I argued that, while the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) got the general analysis right (looking to Roommates.com as the framework for exceptions to the general protections of Section 230), they got the application wrong (saying that algorithmic recommendations should be excepted from immunity).
TOTM Later next month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Gonzalez v. Google LLC, a case that has drawn significant attention and many bad . . .
Later next month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Gonzalez v. Google LLC, a case that has drawn significant attention and many bad takes regarding how Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act should be interpreted. Enacted in the mid-1990s, when the Internet as we know it was still in its infancy, Section 230 has grown into a law that offers online platforms a fairly comprehensive shield against liability for the content that third parties post to their services. But the law has also come increasingly under fire, from both the political left and the right.
TOTM Twitter has seen a lot of ups and downs since Elon Musk closed on his acquisition of the company in late October and almost immediately . . .
Twitter has seen a lot of ups and downs since Elon Musk closed on his acquisition of the company in late October and almost immediately set about his initiatives to “reform” the platform’s operations.
One of the stories that has gotten somewhat lost in the ensuing chaos is that, in the short time under Musk, Twitter has made significant inroads—on at least some margins—against the visibility of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) by removing major hashtags that were used to share it, creating a direct reporting option, and removing major purveyors. On the other hand, due to the large reductions in Twitter’s workforce—both voluntary and involuntary—there are now very few human reviewers left to deal with the issue.
TOTM Others already have noted that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recently released 6(b) report on the privacy practices of Internet service providers (ISPs) fails to comprehend that widespread adoption . . .
Others already have noted that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recently released 6(b) report on the privacy practices of Internet service providers (ISPs) fails to comprehend that widespread adoption of privacy-enabling technology—in particular, Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) and DNS over HTTPS (DoH), but also the use of virtual private networks (VPNs)—largely precludes ISPs from seeing what their customers do online.
TOTM Capping months of inter-chamber legislative wrangling, President Joe Biden on Nov. 15 signed the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the bipartisan infrastructure . . .
Capping months of inter-chamber legislative wrangling, President Joe Biden on Nov. 15 signed the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the bipartisan infrastructure framework, or BIF), which sets aside $65 billion of federal funding for broadband projects. While there is much to praise about the package’s focus on broadband deployment and adoption, whether that money will be well-spent depends substantially on how the law is implemented and whether the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) adopts adequate safeguards to avoid waste, fraud, and abuse.
Popular Media A conventional wisdom has developed in the U.S. that “something” has to be done about Big Tech. From the barrages of congressional hearings to the . . .
A conventional wisdom has developed in the U.S. that “something” has to be done about Big Tech. From the barrages of congressional hearings to the litany of media exposés, it seems everyone has some complaints about social-media companies.
TL;DR President Joe Biden has called for “future-proof” broadband infrastructure as part of his Build Back Better plan, and some members of the U.S. Senate want the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to update its definition of broadband to comprise both download and upload speeds of at least 100 Mbps.
President Joe Biden has called for “future-proof” broadband infrastructure as part of his Build Back Better plan, and some members of the U.S. Senate want the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to update its definition of broadband to comprise both download and upload speeds of at least 100 Mbps. States like California have likewise advanced bills to prioritize funding for infrastructure that supports 100 Mbps or greater download speeds. It is widely believed that the FCC will update the definition of broadband from the 2015 standard of 25 Mbps download/3 Mbps upload speeds.
Studies of U.S. broadband usage suggest that typical consumers do not need upload speeds to be as fast as download speeds. Moreover, they typically require download speeds of less than 100 Mbps. Linking public funding to a required symmetrical 100 Mbps speed tier, or using that tier as a benchmark to define adequate broadband deployment, would have negative consequences for broadband buildout.
Read the full explainer here.
