Mark Grabowski's website on Cuba's recent developments has received multiple honors in recent months.

Grabowski and another Adelphi University professor launched CubaStories.com in 2016, after taking a group of students to Cuba to report on the dramatic changes underway since then-President Obama loosened U.S. sanctions against the Caribbean island-nation.

The website has received the following honors:

• 1st Place, Best News Story, Press Club of Long Island's 2017 Student Journalism Awards
• 3rd Place, Best Video Feature, Press Club of Long Island's 2017 Student Journalism Awards
• Finalist for 2017 MEDEA Awards for best educational multimedia project

​Internet law professor Mark Grabowski discussed legislation which will impact online privacy. The new law impacts the data Internet Service Providers may collect from customers. While the development is bad news, there's also a lot of misinformation being spread around the press and social media, he told various media outlets.

Grabowski was interviewed on the topic by Voice of America, Los Angeles talk show Phil Hulett and Friends, Long Island Press, tech blogs FairyDetox, TechKnowBits and other sites.

Here is Grabowski's full statement:

"There's lots of misinformation about this -- although it's still not good news. In short, nothing is changing. You didn't have online privacy to begin with, so you're not losing anything. The FCC had recently adopted new privacy rules that were set to go into place, but the new legislation stops that from happening. No, someone can't buy your specific internet history. That's a myth. A VPN won't entirely shield your privacy, either – that's another myth.

"What's going to happen is you're going to see more and more targeted ads when you surf online. So, for example, if your kid's teacher emails you that he's struggling in algebra, you might see ads about tutoring services. If you do a Google search for flights to Paris, expect to see ads from airlines and hotel websites.

"Deregulation of internet service providers has been a disaster for Americans. ISPs haven't delivered the promises they made when they begged Congress to end common carriage regulations in the '90s. Twenty years later, we've gone from being a pioneer in internet service to now lagging behind developing countries in terms of access, cost, speed, privacy protections and more. And this situation will probably continue to get worse. It looks like net neutrality is next on the chopping block."

Mark Grabowski will give a talk at Vanderbilt University Law School next week on the importance of viewpoint diversity in higher education. The event, at noon on March 29, is sponsored by the Federalist Society. It's free and open to the public.

Grabowski will be addressing recent free speech controversies at Middlebury, Berkeley, Vanderbilt and elsewhere, the importance of having an ideologically diverse faculty, how the corporatization of higher ed has contributed to this problem, and alarming new practices that some colleges are utilizing to chill speech -- such as creating social media "watch lists" for outspoken students -- among other things.

"One of the reasons we're seeing incidents like Middlebury is because many students live in a bubble and aren't getting exposed to other viewpoints," Grabowski said. "So, it's easy for them to reduce others to caricatures and flare at them instead of treating them respectfully like the human beings they are."

Grabowski is a lawyer and an associate professor at Adelphi University in New York, where he teaches communications law and ethics. He also writes a syndicated column for the Washington Examiner and is a member of Heterodox Academy, a non-partisan group of 500+ professors working to promote free speech and intellectual diversity on campus.

Who's right in the Apple-FBI dispute? Did Gawker violate Hulk Hogan's privacy when it posted a scandalous video of him on its website? Can Donald Trump close "parts of the Internet" if he becomes president?

Learn about these issues and more by signing up for Internet Law & Ethics, a 3-credit online summer course offered by Adelphi University.

The course, taught by Professor Mark Grabowski, features video lectures, interactive exercises and class discussions, all of which can be done through your computer. You never need to set foot in an actual classroom. And you can complete lessons at a time that's convenient for you.

The 6-week cyberspace law class is a survey course covering the law of and on the Internet. It will examine many of the legal, policy and ethical issues raised by the emergence and dominance of the Internet as a means for communication, commerce and social interaction. Topics will include jurisdiction, privacy, hacking and cybercrimes, intellectual property, network neutrality and government regulation of the Internet. No technical or legal background is needed. Grabowski is a lawyer with expertise on Internet law and digital ethics.

To register for the course, contact Adelphi University's Registrar Office at (516) 877-3300 or registrar@adelphi.edu. Both graduate and undergradate students, including non-Adelphi students, may enroll. Tuition costs approximately $2,500. Space is limited, so register ASAP. Class begins May 30 and ends July 8. 

Internet law professor Mark Grabowski in March published two law journal articles and a newspaper column on the U.S. Supreme Court and technology law.

In a Communications Law Review article published on March 15, Grabowski reflected on the late justice Antonin Scalia's legacy as an unlikely defender of technology. In a forthcoming piece being published in the Yale Journal on Regulation, he analyzes whether Neil Gorsuch, the federal judge nominated to succeed Scalia, will carry on his torch as a strong advocate for digital rights. The latter piece was discussed in Tech Policy Daily.

"Although Scalia's rulings on social issues were considered 'behind the times' by progressives, one area where he was 'shockingly forward-looking' was technology, law and tech experts agree," Grabowski said. "Let's hope Gorsuch is indeed 'Scalia 2.0' when it comes to protecting digital liberties. But a review of his decisions on tech issues suggests he may not be. The Senate definitely should explore this issue more closely when their confirmation hearings begin March 20."

Additionally, Grabowski addressed the Supreme Court and technology in his latest syndicated column. In light of a recent high court case, social media censorship could be declared unconstitutional, he argued. Grabowski's column, which was published in the Washington Examiner and several other newspapers from New York to Alaska, was discussed by SCOTUSblog, Constitution.com, Breitbart News and on Reddit. 

Grabowski has written extensively on the topic of the Supreme Court and technology. Past publications include:

• The ‘Twitter test’ for Supreme Court nominees, Sacramento Bee (March 3, 2016)
• Are Technical Difficulties at the Supreme Court Causing a "Disregard of Duty"?, Journal of Law, Technology & Internet (2011)
• Technical Difficulties at the Supreme Court, AOL News (June 1, 2010)

​Mark Grabowski was quoted in the Philadelphia Daily News on the latest controversy involving President Donald Trump -- his administration's purging of webpages from government websites.

Trump came under fire after webpages created by the previous Obama Administration, such as the LGBT page, disappeared when Trump took office. Grabowski told the Daily News: “It makes sense that Trump’s people would delete all the policy-related content created by the Obama administration.”

In a separate statement, the professor and pundit explained: "The widespread media reports that the Trump Administration 'took down' or 'deleted' info from the official White House website ... didn't tell the whole story. All of the previous administration's content disappeared: pages on LGBT rights, net neutrality, Iraq policy, etc. Given that Trump's Administration doesn't share identical policies on every issue,  it makes sense to first vet the Obama Administration's content before putting it on the White House website under the President Trump banner." 

Mark Grabowski has been active in the fight against fake news.

In December, the professor's syndicated newspaper column addressed "How to handle 'fake news'." The column addressed how to tell if a story is legit and offered tips on how readers can be better informed.

"Ultimately consumers will be the gatekeepers by deciding which stories get clicks and shares and which stories don't get attention," he wrote.

Grabowski, who teaches media law and ethics, was also interviewed by San Diego radio station KOGO 600 on fake news.

He has a forthcoming article on "How to prevent fake news in scholastic media" in Communication: Journalism Education Today. It will be published in the Summer edition of the magazine for journalism educators.

"Many and varied examples of fake news ... have appeared in student media in recent years," Grabowski wrote. "And it might get worse. With most students now obtaining their news through social media, bogus news spreads faster and further than ever before. Too often students cannot tell when a story is fake."

In addition, Grabowski has given lectures on fake news at Adelphi University, St. John's University and Marymount Manhattan College. To invite him to speak on your campus, click here.

Mark Grabowski wrote two separate columns for the Washington Examiner analyzing BuzzFeed News's controversial decision to publish an anonymous, unverified 35-page document with lurid allegations about ties between the Russian government and Donald Trump.

Grabowski said publishing the document was unethical and possibly illegal. 

"Buzzfeed didn't bother independently verifying the 'leaked' information, which responsible journalists do, especially when it comes to allegations as explosive as those in the dossier," wrote Grabowski, a professor who teaches media law and ethics. "In an era when information moves at the speed of a tweet, getting the story out first has apparently become more important than getting it right."

Buzzfeed may suffer more than just bad publicity. The pundit and lawyer warned, "BuzzFeed may be vulnerable" to a lawsuit, "if Trump ... can prove it was a false statement of fact."

But, he added: "That said, I do think some Trump supporters' outrage over this is a bit sanctimonious. Many of them ran with literally every unverified conspiracy theory during the election. Now, all of a sudden, they realize they are actually advocates for truth and fairness in journalism and have serious issues with unsubstantiated reports?"

Grabowski's columns were widely-circulated and cited by several political blogs, such as Conservative Post and The Truth Division. 

Internet law professor Mark Grabowski recently offered several cybersecurity tips to individuals and small businesses in multiple tech news blogs.

He told Insureon: "Password protect all of your technology – computers, cell phones, and Wi-Fi included ... Protect important files, such as tax returns and financial records, by encrypting them and backing them up regularly ... Frequently review your bank and credit card statements to check for irregularities"

He told SaneBox: "Contact the right person for help. If you are a victim, if you encounter illegal Internet content (e.g. child exploitation) or if you suspect a computer crime, identity theft or a commercial scam, report this to your local police. If you need help with maintenance or software installation on your computer, consult with an IT professional."

In addition, Grabowski produced a free video lecture on cybercrime that can be viewed below.

Mark Grabowski was quoted in major newspapers and popular blogs on two important pieces of legislation that restrict businesses' ability to retaliate against consumers who give them bad online reviews.

Grabowski spoke in support of the Speak Free Act, which is expected to be considered by Congress in early 2017 and  allows any person against whom a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP suit) has been filed to make a special motion to dismiss the lawsuit. He also lauded Congress's recent passage of the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016 — also known as the “Yelp law” —  which removes “gag clauses” that give businesses the power to punish or silence those who honestly criticize their products or services online. 

"Sometimes, businesses will threaten frivolous defamation lawsuits as a way to censor criticism,” Grabowski, an Internet law professor at Adelphi University, told the Washington Post, Dallas Morning News, Albuquerque Journal and Durango Herald. “The business knows it has no chance of winning the lawsuit, but merely wants to intimidate customers, rivals and others from expressing negative opinions about the business.”

He told The Daily Caller, a popular political blog, the legislation is "a big win for free speech ... “Finally, the law has caught up with technology on this issue.” But, Grabowski notes, “Businesses remain protected against libel ... the legislation specifically states that this new law does not void libel laws.”

He added, in an interview with business website NCR Silver, “keep in mind that just because a review is negative or hurts your feelings or you disagree with it doesn’t make it libelous. Libel cases are very difficult to win and, in most cases, aren’t worth the litigation costs.”

The best way to handle negative reviews is “good, old-fashioned public relations and diplomacy,” Grabowski told Newsday.