Lisa Macpherson

Last week, news media lobbyists flocked to the Hill to lobby for what they describe as “legislation to protect and support quality journalism” — which may very well include the embattled Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, or the #JCPA.

From IceBlock site: ICEBlock Removed Following pressure from the Trump administration, Apple has removed ICEBlock from the App Store. We are incredibly disappointed by Apple's actions. Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move. Apple has claimed they received information from law enforcement that ICEBlock served to harm law enforcement officers. This is patently false. ICEBlock is no different from crowd sourcing speed traps, which every notable mapping application, including Apple's own Maps app, implements as part of its core services. This is protected speech under the first amendment of the United States Constitution. We are determined to fight this with everything we have. Our mission has always been to protect our neighbors from the terror this administration continues to reign down on the people of this nation. We will not be deterred. We will not stop. #resist

Apple removing ICEBlock, a legal app for monitoring ICE activity, from its app store at the behest of the federal government mirrors what it has done in other regimes. www.iceblock.app

Brendan Carr Plans to Keep Going After the Media

“This is a level of censorship we haven’t seen in my lifetime.” @publicknowledge.bsky.social President and CEO @chrisjlewis.bsky.social weighs in with @nytimes.com on FCC Chair Carr's campaign against so-called "liberal bias" in media:

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/t...

Is There a Middle Ground in the Tug of War Between News Publishers and AI Firms? Part 2: Framing Solutions As the scuffle between publishers and AI developers drag on, policy solutions that balance fair use doctrine with incentives for publishers to keep creating are the path forward.

In Part 2 of this two-part blog series, Policy Director @lisahmacpherson.bsky.social breaks down the solutions news publishers are gravitating towards, as well as promising policy solutions to protect the public and business interest alike in this fast-moving space:

The Latest Trump-NYT Defamation Suit is to Silence Speech, not Make Journalism Better This latest defamation suit will not be the one that overturns the Sullivan doctrine, but President Trump is unlikely to give up.

President Trump's latest lawsuit against the @nytimes.com is just yet another in a series of filings to threaten freedom of the press. Read more in the latest from Policy Analyst @mwils.bsky.social at the link below:

publicknowledge.org/trump-defama...

They’re too busy surveilling us

Why The Cloud Should Be a Public Utility | TechPolicy.Press Given that cloud computing has become such a central part of our lives, it should be regulated as a public utility, Michelle Nie and others write.

"Perhaps no technology underpins more the everyday functioning of our increasingly digital world than cloud computing." Read the latest from @nickgarcia.bsky.social and @elisephillips.bsky.social for @techpolicypress.bsky.social on why the cloud should be our next public utility:

This month, the House Judiciary Committee hosted the hearing “Europe’s Threat to American Speech and Innovation”, focusing on an alleged threat that laws such as U.K.'s Online Safety Act & EU's Digital Services Act pose to U.S. free speech. But the evidence presented tells a different story.

Thank you so much to the panelists for their distinctive perspectives and insights - I learned a ton.

Is it illegal to not buy ads on X? Experts explain the FTC’s bizarre ad fight. Here’s the “least silly way” to wrap your head around the FTC’s war over X ads.

Is it illegal to not buy ads on X? @publicknowledge.bsky.social Policy Director @lisahmacpherson.bsky.social and Policy Counsel @elisephillips.bsky.social weigh in with @arstechnica.com:

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Enjoy your day off!

"As fans across the world celebrate the [pending] drop of her latest album, now is a good time to pause and reflect on how Taylor’s career has interacted with copyright...there are some lessons here for those interested in the intersection between copyright, creativity, and commerce."

Follow along as @publicknowledge.bsky.social colleague @mrose.ink tracks the insights from the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime & Terrorism hearing on AI and copyright

Courts Agree: AI Training Ruled As Fair Use in Bartz v. Anthropic and Kadrey v. Meta Two recent landmark trials on AI found that AI training on copyrighted works is fair use — but the details aren't so cut and dry.

And @nickgarcia.bsky.social dissects two recent court cases in his post, "Courts Agree: AI Training Ruled As Fair Use in Bartz v. Anthropic and Kadrey v. Meta” 3/3

publicknowledge.org/courts-agree...

The Fatal Failures of the Copyright Office’s Report on AI At long last, the Copyright Office released its third report on fair use and AI — but their analysis contained serious missteps.

Offering two recent @publicknowledge.bsky.social posts that are relevant to the topic.

First, colleague @mrose.ink assesses the recent Copyright Office report on AI and copyright in her post, “The Fatal Failures of the Copyright Office’s Report on AI" ... 2/3

publicknowledge.org/the-fatal-fa...

TIME CHANGE: Too Big to Prosecute?: Examining the AI Industry’s Mass Ingestion of Copyrighted Works for AI Training | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Today (and new time of 12pm): Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism hearing, "Too Big to Prosecute?: Examining the AI Industry’s Mass Ingestion of Copyrighted Works for AI Training." 1/3

www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-ac...

The Fatal Failures of the Copyright Office’s Report on AI At long last, the Copyright Office released its third report on fair use and AI — but their analysis contained serious missteps.

The Copyright Office finally released its long-awaited third installment on AI and fair use. But while the top-line conclusions were generally on point, the reasoning in their analysis misses the mark. The latest from @mrose.ink:

publicknowledge.org/the-fatal-fa...

Why the FTC’s Click-to-Cancel Rule Deserved Better Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.

The FTC's proposed "click-to-cancel" rule would have been a great move for consumer protection. But when it came time to defend the measure in court, the Commission dropped the ball completely. Read the latest from @bergmayer.net:

publicknowledge.org/why-click-to...

Courts Agree: AI Training Ruled As Fair Use in Bartz v. Anthropic and Kadrey v. Meta Two recent landmark trials on AI found that AI training on copyrighted works is fair use — but the details aren't so cut and dry.

Last week, federal judges released two landmark decisions on artificial intelligence — both finding that AI training on copyrighted works is a protected fair use. Read the breakdown from @nickgarcia.bsky.social on what these rulings mean as well as their limitations at the link below:

Public Knowledge Opposes Senate Budget Bill Risking Nation’s Wi-Fi Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.

The Senate just passed its budget bill, including efforts to auction off public spectrum. Under this text, the FCC could be forced to sell off as much as half of the currently unlicensed spectrum in the 6 GHz band -- which could lead to slower Wi-Fi. publicknowledge.org/public-knowl...

To be clear, this AI moratorium language that was struck from the Senate budget bill had NOTHING to do with AI development or innovation. Rather, it was an attempt to prevent states from regulating *anything* that could be perceived as touching an AI system at the state level.

As predicted, the FTC issued a consent order requiring ad agencies not “boycott” online publishers. But it ignores far more likely impacts of the merger on competition. My @publicknowledge.bsky.social colleague @elisephillips.bsky.social and I break it down.

publicknowledge.org/update-the-f...

Typically, wonderfully spicy (and accurate) take on the “Protecting and Enhancing Public Access to Codes” (PRO CODES) Act from @publicknowledge.bsky.social colleague @mrose.ink Can't think of a less accurately named act. #DontPaywallTheLaw

Public Knowledge Applauds Bill To Open Up App Stores Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.

Thanks to @amyklobuchar.com, Marsha Blackburn, & @blumenthal.senate.gov for reintroducing the Open App Markets Act to reduce gatekeeper power and realize the promise of true competition in the app economy. 🎉 Great step toward market fairness! publicknowledge.org/public-knowl...

A Policy Primer for Free Expression and Content Moderation, Part III: Safeguarding Users This third post of a four-part blog series focuses on policy interventions designed to enhance free expression and content moderation on digital platforms.

These may well be means of competition for platforms (most product features are, regardless of industry), but as in other industries they may also represent a path to product liability for platforms. Read more here publicknowledge.org/safeguarding...

Examples from current cases include ineffective parental controls, ineffective parental notifications, barriers that make it more difficult for users to delete and/or deactivate their accounts than to create them, and platform-created filters that allow users to manipulate their appearance. 5/6

Instead, our product liability theory holds that some harms can be caused by product design features that are rooted in the platforms’ ad-based business model and the need to sustain user attention - but have nothing to do with particular content or content curation. 4/6

Importantly, we do *not* include algorithmic serving or amplification of user content in our definition of product design under this theory. We agree these refer to content liability and are protected by both #Section230 and 1A. 3/6

Our product liability theory at @publicknowledge.bsky.social holds that platforms’ design features – separate and distinct from the nature of the content they serve to users, or how they serve it – can create harms, and that platforms should be liable for the harms their design features cause. 2/6

A very interesting thesis, but it fails to differentiate - as some judges have begun to do - between "algorithmic curation" and product design features that have nothing to do with serving content. We wrote about this, too. 1/6

Is Internet Content Too Engaging? www.lawfaremedia.org/article/is-i...