Technology

Congress Slow to Agree on Internet Regulation

Published

12 years ago

February 6, 2015

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler testifies on Capitol Hill on Dec. 12, 2013. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo)

ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Few members of Congress appear willing to move toward a bipartisan update to the 80-year-old, Depression-era law that top U.S. regulators say gives them the authority to regulate the Internet.

That means that communications legislation written in 1934, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office, will likely be used to regulate how Internet service providers like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast do business with content providers like Google, Netflix, YouTube and Amazon.

“I don’t think there’s much appetite in Congress for compromise, nor do I think one’s necessary,” said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group that says using the 1934 Communications Act gives U.S. regulators flexibility by allowing them to update rules if necessary.

“They pass a law and get really into the specifics where frankly they don’t have the expertise,” Simpson added. “Circumstances change, and they don’t have the flexibility or inclination to go back and change it.”

Many people agree too much regulation and imposition of taxes on Internet commerce could chill investment at a time of exponential growth. But consumers also support the idea of an open Internet and “net neutrality,” in which service providers don’t manipulate or block web traffic. For years, the Federal Communications Commission tried to rely on 1996 legislation to enforce an open Internet, but a federal court disagreed with that approach and tossed out key portions of the rule.

On Wednesday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced a plan that would put Internet service in the same regulatory camp as the telephone. Using Title II of the 1934 Communications Act, the FCC would be given broad authority to ban providers from manipulating web content. Wheeler would allow for some business deals among Internet players to manage data, but those “interconnection” agreements would be subject to FCC review.

Wheeler says his approach won’t discourage industry investments because he’ll withhold enforcement of sections of the law that don’t apply to broadband, and he won’t try to regulate industry prices.

The proposal is likely to be approved by the FCC’s five-member commission on Feb. 26. Industry lobbyists say it’s inevitable that one of the major providers will sue and that the FCC is overreaching in its legal authority. It’s also unclear whether Wheeler’s plan could be used by future FCC commissioners to justify price controls and other heavy handed regulation.

“If Congress doesn’t rein in the FCC, broadband providers will soon look and act like power companies and the old Ma Bell telephone monopoly: stagnant, slow-moving, and anything but innovative,” warned Ryan Radia of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian group.

But a day after Wheeler’s announcement, there were few indications that lawmakers were interested in striking a bipartisan deal to modernize communications law. Democrats like Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., had already said they were satisfied with the Title II approach and declared it a victory for consumers. Meanwhile, Republicans like Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., accused the White House of bullying the independent regulatory agency when President Barack Obama called on the FCC to apply Title II to Internet service.

“The White House needs to get its hands off the FCC,” Upton declared Thursday in a statement.

Thune and Upton have drafted legislation that would enforce basic open Internet rules, but would strip the FCC of other authority including its ability to help local municipalities to build their own broadband. That’s considered a non-starter for Democrats and would be vetoed by Obama.

Lawmakers and their staff were expected to take some time dissecting Wheeler’s proposal, including its technical implications.

But after that, it’s unclear what incentive Democrats would have to hash out a compromise with Republicans who want to limit the FCC’s authority in general. Sen. Bill Nelson, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, and Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, are seen as the most likely to work with their GOP counterparts. But they would have to find support among their colleagues who see Title II regulation as a good approach.

“The president did the right thing,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., a member of the Senate Commerce Committee. “He called on the FCC to make the right decision when it comes to the Internet and protecting it from cable companies who want to overcharge or slow down connections.”

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AG Bonta Announces Action on Cryptocurrency, Sextortion Fraud – Increasingly Targeting Gen-Z

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is warning residents about a surge in cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion schemes that increasingly target Gen Z through social media platforms. With internet-based scams costing Americans nearly $21 billion in 2023, Bonta highlighted how artificial intelligence and deepfakes allow criminals to impersonate loved ones and promote fraudulent investment groups. The Attorney General’s Office has already shut down over 100 fraudulent websites and is now utilizing new legislative tools to recover assets for victims. Read more.

Published

1 week ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned residents about rising cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion scams, urging Californians to recognize warning signs and protect themselves as scammers increasingly target younger people through social media.

Speaking at a news conference on Oct. 19, Bonta said Americans lost $20.9 billion to internet-based scams in 2025, including $11.4 billion to cryptocurrency scams. He said artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and malicious smart contracts have made fraud easier to carry out and more difficult to detect and prevent.

While older Californians remain targets, Bonta said his office has seen a sharp rise in reports of Gen Z consumers being targeted on platforms such as Twitch, TikTok, and Instagram.

One growing scheme involves so-called rug-pull scams, in which fraudsters promote low-priced stocks or volatile cryptocurrencies through online investment groups and streaming communities. After generating interest and driving up prices, scammers sell their holdings, causing values to collapse and leaving investors with losses.

Bonta also warned about sextortion, in which scammers trick or coerce victims into sharing explicit images before threatening to distribute them to friends and family unless they pay. He advised victims not to give in to demands, saying scammers often do not release the images when victims refuse to pay. Instead, he recommended ignoring and blocking the perpetrators.

Another scheme, known as recovery fraud, targets people who have already lost money to cryptocurrency scams. Fraudsters impersonate blockchain recovery specialists or law enforcement officials and demand additional payments while promising to recover stolen assets.

Bonta urged Californians to be skeptical of promises of large returns on small investments, fake cryptocurrencies resembling established ones, and celebrity endorsements that may have been generated using artificial intelligence. He also warned that scammers can use AI to impersonate loved ones through manipulated video and audio.

“Never use a crypto ATM,” Bonta said, emphasizing that transactions can be difficult to trace and reverse and that the machines lack adequate consumer protections.

His office has shut down more than 100 fraudulent websites over the past two years that collectively scammed victims out of at least $8.3 million, he said.

Bonta also highlighted Senate Bill 1208, which he said was recently signed into law. The measure allows law enforcement to petition a court to return seized cryptocurrency to victims, including when alleged perpetrators are outside U.S. jurisdiction.

Residents who have fallen victim to scams can report them to the California Department of Justice at oag.ca.gov/report.

Bonta also urged victims not to feel embarrassed, stressing that scammers are responsible for the harm they cause.

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Black History

OP-ED: The Black Church Writes AI’s Next Chapter

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — I implore my fellow faith leaders to use these tools. Start now and use them with wisdom. We count on each and every one of you to make sure our communities help write the next chapter of this story. This rapid change is not as unfamiliar as it may sound. My first understanding of AI came from using a calculator for the first time in grade school. We did not call it AI, but it was a tool that helped me work through mathematical equations hours more efficiently.

Published

3 weeks ago

October 18, 2026

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For generations, the Black church has stood strong in our communities through every historical change this country has experienced. During the civil rights movement and in recent times, faith leaders have helped uplift Black sanctuaries to register voters, keep food pantries open for people in need, and sit with families in hospital rooms in their most desperate moments. When our people faced new trials, they could always look to our faith leaders and the church to lean in to help us be included in these transformative changes.

Artificial intelligence is the latest revolutionary change to impact our society, and much like other transformations before us, underserved communities often get left behind.

I was recently featured in a report entitled “Faith, Community & AI” and it found that people send ChatGPT more than 70 million messages a week about religion. Nearly 22 million involve studying sacred texts, and 16 million ask about religious practices and holy days. Our members make up part of those numbers. They bring questions of faith to these tools every day.

Pastors have noticed, and according to a September 2025 Lifeway Research survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors, 42 percent said they use or experiment with AI in ministry. I count myself among them.

I write my sermons by hand, through prayer and study. When I finish a draft, I ask ChatGPT this question: “Where might this sermon become unclear or difficult to follow for someone early in their walk of faith?” It shows me gaps in my preparation, like where I incorrectly assumed everyone would know the context of who the Pharisees were. Then, change comes from my own pen, not the robot. The tool helps me reach the person in the back pew while the message still comes from me.

If I could have my wish, our whole community would take a similar posture. We must use these tools, understand them, and most importantly be present to help shape them if we want to be included in the coming change.

I implore my fellow faith leaders to use these tools. Start now and use them with wisdom. We count on each and every one of you to make sure our communities help write the next chapter of this story. This rapid change is not as unfamiliar as it may sound. My first understanding of AI came from using a calculator for the first time in grade school. We did not call it AI, but it was a tool that helped me work through mathematical equations hours more efficiently.

It starts with training; there is no involvement without understanding. Free AI trainings have begun in our churches and community centers across the nation. Every faith leader should sign up and, when possible, encourage members of your congregations to join you. By learning how to use AI, we can better understand what it can do, make up our own minds about its impact, and have a say in how it shapes our communities.”

Next, we must be at the tables where the builders of these tools make decisions. Presence is the first step toward understanding, and that gap is only bridged through a coordinated effort. How can any tool serve a community well if that community is not part of the conversation? Our traditions, needs, and concerns must be accounted for, and Black faith leaders are already making that happen. OpenAI’s recent Faith report states plainly that AI should never become an arbiter of religious truth. I fully intend to hold the company to its word, and the most effective way I can do that is from inside.

I will close with this––we must diligently protect what only the church can give. A believer in Seoul, Korea quoted in the report warned, “if you pour every struggle into a private chat, your pastor and your friends may never learn you need help.” A chatbot will not sit with a grieving family or pray with you at two in the morning. As we adopt this technology, it is up to us to ensure it keeps people connected to each other and to their church.

Rev. Dr. Adolphus Lacey is senior pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York.

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Black History

OP-ED: The Black Church Writes AI’s Next Chapter

Published

3 weeks ago

October 18, 2026

Post News Group

Artificial intelligence is the latest revolutionary change to impact our society, and much like other transformations before us, underserved communities often get left behind.

Pastors have noticed, and according to a September 2025 Lifeway Research survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors, 42 percent said they use or experiment with AI in ministry. I count myself among them.