Media Center

'No company should profit from spreading content that endangers our democracy. We are glad to see DirecTV make the right decision: to drop OANN at the end of its contract.'

“It was a long and winding road for Jessica Rosenworcel, but she stayed the course and good sense has now finally prevailed with today’s Senate vote. Jessica faces a daunting agenda as chair but she has the experience and dedication to make historic progress leading the FCC. Past commission mistakes must be corrected and new trails blazed to provide our country with the communications ecosystem our democracy so clearly must have. Needed now is a fifth commissioner, so that a full FCC can get on with its important mandate of protecting the public interest.” - Michael Copps, Former FCC Commissioner and Common Cause Special Adviser

WASHINGTON — On Monday, 16 civil-rights, human-rights and media-justice organizations called on the top executives at AT&T and DIRECTV to cut business ties with One America News Network, the propaganda channel responsible for spreading anti-democratic disinformation, promoting COVID-19 conspiracy theories and fueling racism.

Friday night, the House voted to pass the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act which includes $65 billion in broadband investments. These investments will fund the deployment of high-speed networks in unserved and underserved areas, make broadband more affordable for low-income households, and fund digital inclusion programs that ensure communities have the necessary tools and skills to effectively use broadband. The legislation also includes important protections that enhance broadband pricing transparency and takes steps that prevent providers from engaging in discriminatory deployment. The legislation passed the Senate in August, which now sits at the president’s desk awaiting signature.

With The Facebook Papers adding daily to the evidence of the inability and unwillingness of social media giants to combat disinformation and other harmful content, Common Cause today released an extensive report on election disinformation, including a comprehensive set of reforms needed to curb this huge and growing problem and protect our right to vote in elections next week, next year, and beyond. Based on more than 15,000 hours monitoring social media in the 2020 election cycle, together with legal and policy expertise, “As a Matter of Fact: The Harms Caused by Election Disinformation” details the seriousness and scale of the threat, current applicable state and federal laws, and the woefully inadequate and inconsistent civic integrity policies of the social media giants. The report concludes with a sweeping series of reform recommendations to better enable us to fight back against election disinformation.