Is today a "bones day" for tech policy?
This week, we dove into FCC fees, Zoomers on social media, constitutional law surrounding public schools and algorithms, and the recent Klobuchar/Grassley bill. Plus, our next webinar!
While social media can sometimes be a hot mess of bad-faith arguments and delirious ranting, it can also be incredibly wholesome. Exhibit A? The explosion of the “no bones” trend over the past few weeks. If you haven’t heard of it yet, I’ll explain: A guy on TikTok named Jonathan Graziano checks in with his sleepy pug, Noodle, every day to determine whether the pup woke up with “bones” or “no bones.” These descriptions aren’t literal (one would hope), but more of a physical vibe check. Graziano lifts his pug off his bed and onto his wobbly paws in the morning. If he stays upright, he has bones. If he flops back down, the aptly-named Noodle is having a “no bones day.”
A “no bones day” isn’t necessarily bad. It’s just… different. On a “bones day,” Graziano instructs us to take risks, lean into our energy, and “go have Greek food by a river — what a thrill that is!” In contrast, a “no bones day” is a time to recharge and “bust out the heated blanket.” Millions of viewers can’t resist this canine oracle, and apparently neither can Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards or Senator Bob Casey, both of whom recently dropped impressively hip references to Noodle on Twitter. Isn’t social media magical?
FCC. Jim was quoted in Law360’s (paywall) review of comments filed regarding who should pay regulatory fees to cover the FCC’s $374 million budget. The article highlights our claims that the FCC lacks authority to assess fees on entities it does not regulate, and “the idea that the FCC can require a huge swath of the U.S. economy to pay for the internal operations of the FCC is absurd.”
Constitutional Law. Corbin published some thoughts at The Bulwark this week on an unexpected topic: your local public school. How did that come up? Well, it starts with Professor Philip Hamburger. The professor is in the habit of raising arguments—often in the Wall Street Journal opinion page—that, despite being half-baked, shape many conservatives’ perception of important issues, such as the meaning of Section 230. We have not been shy about addressing Hamburger’s misconceptions. Last week, Hamburger made perhaps his strangest argument yet—that the public school system is unconstitutional. Although we are certainly not about to dive into education policy (phew), the article caught Corbin’s eye. To reach his desired conclusion, Hamburger discards a cartload of conservative legal, political, and cultural principles. Corbin likes a few of those principles himself, and until last week, he’d have thought Hamburger liked a lot of them, too. Corbin took to his keyboard to gently urge a little more ideological consistency from the good professor.
FTC. In case you missed our panel last Thursday on whether the FTC has the power to make competition rules, you can catch up with this recap from Broadband Breakfast or watch it in its entirety on YouTube.
The next webinar in the series will take place at 3:15 pm on Monday, November 8, and will cover the debate over whether the FTC should ban exclusive contracts. You can register directly here using Zoom. If you’re feeling particularly enthusiastic, you can also retweet it here!
Social Media. In a new Tech Policy Podcast, Corbin spoke with me and NetChoice’s Kir Nuthi about the Generation Z social media experience. After we chatted about the myriad joys of a childhood on YouTube (tractor videos, hamster videos… the works), Corbin asked us about Gen Z’s media literacy online and how we view content moderation. He concluded by considering with us whether the widespread concern over teen social media usage is, like video games, yet another moral panic. Our consensus? The kids will be alright.
Competition. Bilal was quoted in a TechNewsWorld article about the newly dropped Klobuchar/Grassley bill prohibiting “self-preferencing” by certain large firms offering a platform for the sale and distribution of products, including their own. In short, Bilal noted that the recent efforts in Congress to modify current antitrust law appear to be an effort by firms hurt by new competition to stifle that competition.
Algorithms. Netflix mounted the latest defense in the War on Algorithms, seeking dismissal of a class action lawsuit against it for its alleged algorithmic promotion of its series '13 Reasons Why.' Ari explained to Reason why tort law and the First Amendment stand in the way of imposing liability on Netflix just because it recommends content to users via algorithms.