Federal officials are moving a step closer to allowing state and federal prisons to jam cellphone signals from devices smuggled to inmates.

The Office of the New York Attorney General said in a new report that a campaign funded by the broadband industry submitted millions of fake comments supporting the 2017 repeal of net neutrality.

The shield from liability for social media companies has been grounded in Section 230 of a landmark 1996 telecommunications law. Trump and Republican lawmakers have persistently accused the social media companies, without evidence, of suppressing conservative viewpoints, and Trump portrayed his executive order as a remedy for bias. With Simington confirmed to the five-member FCC, there will then be a 2-2 split between Democratic and Republican commissioners. That likely will stymie Biden’s agenda until he’s able to get a fifth, Democratic FCC member confirmed, with an extended delay possible if the Republicans continue to control the Senate after the two Georgia Senate runoff elections. During Pai’s tenure, the FCC worked to free up spectrum for cellphone companies to enable them to roll out 5G.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican, says he is leaving the telecommunications regulator on Inauguration Day. Section 230 shields internet companies from lawsuits about posts by users. The Trump administration has gone after the law, alleging with no evidence that social networks censor conservatives. Pai and another Republican commissioner, Michael O'Rielly, are leaving the agency. O'Rielly is leaving because the White House pulled his nomination after he said he wasn't sure the agency had authority on Section 230.

The committee summoned the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google to testify during the hearing. Dorsey said Twitter was working closely with state election officials. Dorsey told Cruz that he does not believe that Twitter can influence elections because it's only one source of information. GOP senators raised with the executives an array of allegations of other bias on the platforms regarding Iran, China and Holocaust denial. “We approach our work without political bias, full stop," Pichai said.

WASHINGTON – Less than a week before Election Day, the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google are set to face a grilling by Republican senators who accuse the tech giants of anti-conservative bias. With the election looming, Republicans led by President Donald Trump have thrown a barrage of grievances at Big Tech’s social media platforms, which they accuse without evidence of deliberately suppressing conservative, religious and anti-abortion views. The tech platforms are gateways to news online. It proposes that Congress enact rules preventing tech platforms from taking local news content without fair payment. “For too long, social media platforms have hidden behind Section 230 protections to censor content that deviates from their beliefs,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the committee chairman, said recently.

MINNEAPOLIS Incarcerated people and their families said they are closely watching congressional debates about the next COVID-19 relief bill for proposed legislation that would drastically push down the cost of prison and jail phone calls. For years, they have advocated lowering rates that run as high as $25 for a 15-minute call. Now, they said, with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, the costs are especially debilitating, separating families at a crucial time. He said the suspension of most in-person visits at facilities nationwide have made calls back home even more important. They went from talking to him every day to talking to him a few times a week.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The US Federal Communications Commission wants to place more restrictions on Huawei and ZTE by barring companies that receive government money from purchasing equipment or services from the Chinese tech firms. It's the latest move in a growing list of US restrictions on Huawei aimed at curbing its global expansion. ZTE also makes telecom gear and smartphones, but is a much smaller player than Huawei. But dozens of small, rural US networks currently use Huawei and ZTE equipment, which Pai said "poses an unacceptable risk." Last month, the House introduced a bill that would give such operators $1 billion to tear out Huawei and ZTE equipment from their networks.

Copyright 2019 CNN(CNN) - A federal appeals court has largely upheld the Federal Communications Commission's controversial repeal of its net neutrality rules for internet providers, finding the agency didn't overreach when it decided in 2018 to deregulate companies such as Comcast and Verizon. But the decision also handed a partial victory to net neutrality advocates in that it provides a path for states to create their own net neutrality rules. For years, consumer groups have pushed for tough net neutrality rules. Pai argued that the net neutrality regulations were heavy-handed and discouraged internet providers from upgrading their networks. Those arguments figured prominently in the legal battle over net neutrality.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images(CNN) - Sprint, the nation's fourth-biggest wireless carrier, may have wrongfully made millions of dollars from a federal subsidy program designed to make cellphone and Internet service more affordable for low-income Americans, according to the Federal Communications Commission. But Sprint was ineligible to claim the federal funds, the FCC said, because it failed to report that the customers were not actually using the subsidized service. "It's outrageous that a company would claim millions of taxpayer dollars for doing nothing," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The investigation into Sprint comes at a delicate time for the company as it seeks to complete its merger with T-Mobile. "When companies abuse the Lifeline program, we should throw the book at them," Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democratic FCC Commissioner, tweeted.