The Federal Communications Commission just killed net neutrality. The agency voted to repeal regulations that make the future of the internet and the way consumers use it a lot murkier. Andrew McCollum, CEO of Philo, an internet television company that recently introduced a streaming live TV service, joined us to share why he is worried about a world without net neutrality.
The FCC voted to reverse a 2015 decision by the Obama Administration that aimed to protect Americans on the internet. McCollum is concerned that without the regulations, services like Philo become prone to "unfair prioritization by internet providers." It's not only a loss for companies. He believes strong net neutrality rules also protect the consumer.
As a co-founder of Facebook, McCollum says he got a glimpse of how difficult it would be for companies to innovate in a world without protections for net neutrality. He shares that colleges that did not like Facebook would block students from gaining access because they acted as the internet providers. With such limitations, he questions whether an era of internet innovation is coming to a halt.
As Russia intensifies its war on Ukraine, President Biden announced a ban on oil imported from the aggressor nation. Critics of Russia have said this would be the best way to force Putin to pull back, but curbs on Russian oil exports are expected to send already skyrocketing oil and gas prices even higher, further impacting consumers, businesses, financial markets, and the global economy. Leslie Beyer, CEO of the Energy Workforce and Technology Council, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. "It's certainly going to increase pricing, but it is the right thing to do," she said. "The industry itself has already pulled out of the significant portion of its operations in Russia."
Two friends have joined forces to come up with an app dedicated to making mental health more approachable and to provide users with the tools needed to improve their mental health and overall well-being. Co-Founders of the Dial App Jonah Salita and Marcel Johnson, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
On this International Women’s Day, Deb Cupp, president of Microsoft U.S., joined Cheddar News to talk about the implementation of her pillars to extend the company's culture, such as acting with care and putting the team first. "What I like about the pillars is they're very simple, so it's easy for us to think about how they show up every day in our lives," Cupp said.
The growth of the metaverse is bringing new challenges to managing safe, diverse communities. Helping Cheddar kick off Women's History Month, Tiffany Xingyu Wang, chief marketing officer for AI-powered content moderation company Spectrum Labs, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss how platforms can help create safer, more inclusive online communities in the metaverse and about her own experience as a woman in technology. "Trust is really the new digital transformation, and it should not be a siloed task solely belonging to chief security officers, to privacy officers, or the people who were given the task of trust and safety," she said. "It should be a priority for all the C suite and a whole company to rally around."
