ONWARD - A government shutdown isn’t going to delay arguments in a closely watched challenge to the FCC’s decision to repeal so-called net neutrality rules. C.Ryan Barber reports that a federal appeals court in Washington has rejected a bid by the FCC arguing that a lack of appropriations should halt the case, scheduled for arguments Feb. 1, over whether Internet service providers must give equal access to all web content. Federal trial and appellate judges are dividing over which cases to pause amid the shutdown, now the longest in the nation’s history.
KINDLY RSVP - The ACLU has sued federal agencies for records related to their “social media surveillance activities.” As Ian Lopez reports, the ACLU lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California claims that the failure of seven government agencies to respond to a FOIA request pertaining to the “surveillance of social media users and speech” violates federal law and raises concerns for freedom of speech and privacy. Among the defendants are the DOJ, the FBI, the DHS and the State Department.
