Welcome to the September edition of the Free Press Update, our monthly newsletter recapping as much of our work from the last month as we can fit into one email. Let’s get started:

Our Top Five Priorities for a Fully Functional FCC

On Sept. 7 — after 32 months of frustrating delay and a vicious smear campaign against Biden’s first nominee — the Senate voted 55–43 to confirm Anna Gomez and give FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel the votes to get moving on a long slate of crucial priorities.

Gomez is a longtime FCC and NTIA staffer and sometime corporate lawyer with deep technical and policy knowledge. She’s also the first Latina to serve on the commission since the Clinton administration. Based on our meetings with her and her years of public service, we have high hopes for what she can accomplish at the FCC. But there’s a lot the commissioners need to get to work on with a small window to act before the next election. Learn more about our top-five priorities for the FCC on the Free Press blog.

And on that note…

The FCC Moves to Reinstate Net Neutrality and its Title II Authority!

On Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel announced plans to begin an agency proceeding to restore the FCC’s Title II authority to oversee broadband providers and enforce the open-internet protections that were stripped away during the Trump administration.

The fight for Net Neutrality is back! And a lot has changed since Free Press first put this issue on the map in 2005. Read more about where we’ve been and what’s at stake in the weeks and months to come in our latest blog post — and stay tuned for more ways to help us win back Title II and Net Neutrality.

What Congress & the FTC Can Do Now to Protect Against AI Abuses

AI has taken over Washington, D.C. There have been congressional hearings, closed-door sessions and multiple other events where lawmakers have asked about the best approach to regulating this technology.

While The Washington Post concluded that the legislative forecast for AI was “cloudy” and that Congress still had “a long way to go” before it could craft rules to rein in the worst possible AI outcomes, there are very useful things that Congress can do right now. Learn more about how Congress can act in the latest blog post from Nora Benavidez and Jenna Ruddock.

How Free Press Is Working to Foster Equitable Journalism

Winning the just and equitable local news and civic information that communities need to thrive requires building strong relationships, shifting resources and addressing media narratives and practices that perpetuate harm. Check out some of the activities the News Voices, journalism-policy and Media 2070 teams at Free Press have been engaged in this summer.

Other Updates

• Following nearly a year of sustained pressure on brands from the #StopToxicTwitter coalition, Elon Musk is now singling out coalition members to blame for the company’s extensive revenue losses. On September 6, Musk threatened to sue coalition member the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for these losses, continuing his penchant for using lawyers to silence his critics. Learn more.
• Earlier this month, the MacArthur Foundation announced the launch of Press Forward, a philanthropy-led, field-influenced initiative to invest $500 million in local journalism, including support for civic media and public-policy development. Press Forward's vision for this work aligns with the findings in The Roadmap for Local News — an effort that listened to leaders across the journalism space and put forward some of their biggest ideas. Free Press’ Mike Rispoli coauthored The Roadmap alongside Elizabeth Green of Civic News Company and Darryl Holliday, formerly of City Bureau. Learn more.

Thank you for reading! The info here represents only a small fraction of what Free Press and Free Press Action are doing every day to fight for your rights to connect and communicate. Will you donate today to power our work forward? With a big, big fight to reinstate Title II Net Neutrality in the months to come, a generous donor is MATCHING all gifts to Free Press through midnight on Saturday — so your gift today has double the impact!

Thank you for everything you do to help power our movement,

All of us at Free Press and Free Press Action
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