Axios

Some startups are trying to turn existing technologies into products that could reduce consumers' reliance on major internet service providers for broadband access, the WSJ reports.

Why it matters: Earlier this month, the FCC repealed net neutrality rules that required internet service providers like AT&T, Verizon, Charter and Comcast to treat all internet access equally. Without those rules, the telecom companies may be able to speed up some traffic from companies willing to pay extra to reach consumers faster. In many areas, consumers have few choices of broadband providers.

Here's what a few startups are doing to increase competition for the big internet service providers:

New York City is considering implementing a per-ride fee on ride-sharing services like Uber in Manhattan as well as a congestion pricing plan in order to unclog its gridlocked streets, per the New York Times. The explosion of ride-sharing — there are around 68,000 cars in New York affiliated with ride-sharing services, compared to a capped 13,600 yellow cabs — has greatly contributed to the city's traffic problems.

Why it matters: Ride-sharing's conundrum in New York illustrates the growing pains of technology companies that fundamentally disrupt certain markets and the delayed attempts to regulate them. Other cities — like Chicago, Seattle, and Portland — have already implemented their own ride-sharing fees in order to modernize public transportation and encourage ride-sharing services to offer wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

Former President Obama urges responsible social-media use by "all of us in leadership," in an interview with Prince Harry that was broadcast on today's BBC Radio 4's "Today." The interview, which Obama said was his first as former president, was recorded in Toronto in September during the Invictus Games. Prince Harry was one of several of the program's guest editors over Christmas.

Obama, who doesn't mention Trump: "One of the dangers of the Internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases."

Some on Capitol Hill are exploring the idea that companies like Facebook and Google have designed products with the intention of getting and keeping consumers addicted to the feeling of getting likes, comments, shares, and hearts. Last month a staffer in Sen. Mark Warner's office organized a briefing featuring Tristan Harris, the former Google Design Ethicist who argues that tech companies unethically manipulated their users, and academic Zeynep Tufekci, who is a prominent critic of Silicon Valley.

Why it matters: Policymakers no longer assume that Silicon Valley is acting in the best interests of their users, or society at large. But the real reckoning would come if that skepticism spreads to their hundreds of millions of users.

Ben Hampton, one of Instagram's latest influencer has amassed over 670,000 followers and gone viral on YouTube, but he's only six years old, the Daily Beast reports. Hampton's social media accounts are run by his father as he's too young to publish posts himself. With his growing popularity, it's difficult for Hampton to leave his home without being recognized and even swarmed by fans.

The big picture, per the Daily Beast: "A lot of young kids in 2017 aspire to become famous YouTubers or social media stars —according to a recent study by travel company First Choice 75 percent of kids between the age of 6 and 17 say they hope to pursue a career in online video — but Ben had the type of father who could make it happen" by connecting his 6-year-old to YouTube star Jake Paul.