Michael Harriot, columnist at The Root, and Jarad Geldner, Senior Advisor at The Democratic Coalition, discuss the FCC's vote to repeal net neutrality, the Obama-era regulations that restricted internet service providers from prioritizing certain sites and apps over others.
Harriot weighs in on what the move would mean for politics. Internet service providers will be able to allow or block ads of certain political parties of their choice, or possibly ones that have bought ad space or invested in their company. We ask Geldner what the U.S. government stands to gain from the move, adding that it simply seems like a handout to big internet companies, allowing them to take advantage of consumers.
Harriot notes his surprise that major companies like Google, Facebook, and Netflix have not been as vocal recently about their opposition to the net neutrality repeal. Harriot says that content creators like Netflix stand to lose the most.
Geldner talks about various litigation against the repeal, including a fight from the Democratic Coalition.
The U.S. approved updated COVID-19 vaccines Monday, hoping to rev up protection against the latest coronavirus strains and blunt any surge this fall and winter.
The Biden administration has cleared the way for the release of five American citizens detained in Iran by issuing a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions. In addition, as part of the deal, the administration has agreed to release five Iranian citizens held in the United States.
The U.S. government is taking aim at what has been an indomitable empire: Google’s ubiquitous search engine that has become the internet’s main gateway.
President Joe Biden departed Vietnam after meetings with President Vo Van Thuong along with other high-ranking officials, following his participation at the G20 summit in India.