Innovation – and the technology that comes from it – has made all of our lives better in almost incalculable ways. Whether its access to clean water, transportation that can take us anywhere we want to go, or the information revolution, many of us would be lost without these technologies. Yet when it comes to technology advancements, government often gets in the way. Rules and regulations make it difficult for innovators to improve our lives. Louisiana often lags behind in embracing new technology stifling innovation and job creation while also hurting consumers in the process.
Last year, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced the Open App Markets Act. The act is an attempt to prevent Apple and Google, who operate App Store and Google Play, from engaging in alleged “anti-competitive practices.” There are several concerns with the act, beginning with the fact that...
The debate around whether government should regulate social media platforms centers on whether these companies are “common carriers”—that is, “a person or a commercial enterprise that transports passengers or goods for a fee and establishes that their service is open to the general public.” Historically, in American law, examples of this are railroads, airlines, ferries,...
Elon Musk has bought Twitter, and now promises to protect free speech on the platform. Naturally, this prompted a slew of celebrities to proclaim they are leaving Twitter because they claim free speech is dead on the platform. Apparently, they are now gravitating towards platforms like Mastodon and Discord (though, there’s doubt this will last)....
What is the future of the internet? The internet changes so quickly and constantly that we often fail to notice the huge changes that occur every day, which drastically change the landscape over time. For example, a little over a decade ago, most Americans used a personal computer to interact online, today, most internet usage...
When looking at where the future of technology is going, it’s best not to ask people my age, but to look at how teenagers interact with technology. This week, I had the opportunity to see young people from New Orleans attend a summer camp with the Youth Empowerment Project. There, they learned from people like...
Eric Peterson, Director of the Tech and Innovation Center, joins Jeff Crouere’s Ringside Politics to discuss the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA). Click Here to Listen Online
As COVID-19 recedes and we can interact physically again, many are concerned about the amount of time young people are spending online. These concerns are especially pronounced for young people spending time on social media. As a result, lawmakers and policy professionals have suggested a variety of proposals that would do everything from banning algorithms...
With personal incomes in the Pelican State growing at one of the slowest rates in the nation and inflation at nearly ten percent, the average Louisianan is looking for any way to save a couple of dollars. While Louisianans are trying to stretch their budgets, everyday essentials like fuel, food, and clothing continue to cost...
One of the few policy agreements across state capitols and in Washington D.C. is the need to close the digital divide. COVID-19 laid bare the fact that too many rural Americans lack the ability to work from home or attend virtual learning due to poor broadband infrastructure. Despite the federal and state governments already spending...
Last week, the United States Supreme Court granted an emergency stay preventing a Texas social media law from going into effect. Previously the Fifth Circuit ruled against the social media companies leaving them scrambling to figure out if they could comply with the law’s provisions. The decision by the Supreme Court means that the decision is...
Americans are facing levels of inflation not seen in decades and every trip to the grocery store or the gas station takes a bigger bite out of their paycheck. The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that inflation over the past year is 8.3 percent. For most Americans, daily costs have been...
Elon Musk is currently purchasing the social media company Twitter. The ongoing purchase set off a firestorm of hot takes mostly around Twitter’s content moderation practices. But another set of concerns about antitrust violations has also been raised. These concerns have only been strengthened as the Federal Trade Commission has begun investigating the purchase. Traditionally,...