Platform Regulation on CrossGov.com

FCC Ban on Components From Covered List Chinese Firms Takes Effect as the Agency Sets Spectrum and Drone Votes for October 29

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A Federal Communications Commission rule barring new equipment authorizations for devices that contain “logic-bearing” components from companies on the agency’s Covered List took effect on October 13. The Covered List names firms the government considers national security risks, including Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Dahua and Hytera, and has been expanded to include some Chinese drone makers.

The rule, adopted as FCC 26-50, closes a gap. Since 2022 the FCC has refused to authorize equipment made by Covered List firms. Devices from other manufacturers containing their chips or modules could still be approved. Logic-bearing components include processors and communications modules, the parts that can run software or move data.

FCC v. Brown: Supreme Court Weighs Whether Parties Get Candidates' Cheapest TV Ad Rates in the Final Weeks Before the Midterms

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

An emergency application now at the Supreme Court will decide how cheaply the political parties can buy television time in the last three weeks before the November 3 election.

The dispute is over a March 30, 2026, public notice from the Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau. It extended the “lowest unit charge,” the discount broadcasters must give candidates in the 45 days before a primary and the 60 days before a general election, to party committees and joint fundraising committees that run ads featuring a candidate. Democratic candidates including Senator Jon Ossoff, Sherrod Brown, Roy Cooper and Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet challenged it.

US Court Throws Out 4chan's Suit Against Britain's Ofcom, but Offshore Online Safety Fines Still Go Unpaid

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In September 2026 a federal judge in Washington threw out a lawsuit that two American websites, 4chan and Kiwi Farms, had brought against Britain’s online safety regulator. The ruling settled one question: a US court won’t stop a foreign regulator from fining American sites. It left another open: whether anyone can make them pay.

Between April 2025 and June 2026, Britain’s online safety regulator, Ofcom, fined nine providers based outside the UK under the Online Safety Act. The fines had a face value of £6.1 million, before daily penalties. When asked under freedom of information rules how much had been paid, Ofcom withheld the figure.

US Visa Bans and Tariff Threats Meet Europe's Digital Services Act Fines on X and Temu

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In late December 2025 Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa bans on five Europeans connected to online content rules. They included Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner who had driven the Digital Services Act, and the heads of three campaign groups that work on online hate and disinformation. The European Commission strongly condemned the move. Emmanuel Macron called it intimidation and coercion. A US judge later issued a temporary order protecting one of the five, Imran Ahmed.