Dana Floberg

Free Press and Access Now Urge the FCC to Get the Emergency Broadband Benefit to People in Need

Free Press and Access Now filed reply comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging strong and rapid implementation of the Emergency Broadband Benefit program.

Free Press and Access Now Urge FCC To Make Emergency Broadband Benefit Easily Accessible

Free Press and Access Now filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging strong and rapid implementation of the Emergency Broadband Benefit program established by Congress in the latest pandemic relief package. The EBB program offers a monthly benefit of up to $50  to low-income families and those financially impacted by the COVID-19 emergency. The benefit would help cover the cost of any broadband plan offered by participating internet providers.

The Trump FCC's Repeal of Net Neutrality Is Still Wrong, and Still Hurting People Without Internet Access

No amount of lying by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai will change this reality: The Trump FCC’s repeal of Net Neutrality protections and agency authority were wrong in 2017 and they’re still wrong today.

Broadband Maps Are Just One Step Toward Closing the Digital Divide

Before you solve a problem, you’ve got to be able to understand it. The Federal Communications Commission recently voted to deepen its understanding of the digital divide by making several improvements to its broadband maps, as required by the Broadband DATA Act. The agency’s goal is to ensure that its maps showing where broadband is and isn’t available are more accurate and more granular.

The Trump FCC's Net Neutrality Repeal Is Still Wrong

Public interest commenters, including public safety officials, overwhelmingly agreed with Free Press’s assessment that the Federal Communications Commission’s misguided repeal of Net Neutrality and its authority over broadband internet access service (“BIAS”) harms the Lifeline program, pole attachment regulation, and public safety. These commenters also overwhelmingly agreed that the best remedy for such harms would be for the Commission to once again correctly classify broadband as a Title II service protected by strong open internet rules.

US students are being asked to work remotely. But 22% of homes don't have internet

Nationwide, approximately 22% of households don’t have home internet, including more than 4 million households with school-age children.

The Digital Divide Promises to Skew Census Results

The digital divide means that a digital census raises new problems when it comes to counting correctly. Approximately 22 percent of households nationwide still don’t have home broadband, which means they’ll have a harder time responding to an online census. Even among those who have home broadband, people of color and low-income families are more likely to depend exclusively on mobile internet.

Voter Guide To Where 2020 Candidates Stand on Media and Tech Policy

Free Press Action released its 2020 Right to Connect Voter Guide, an analysis of presidential candidates’ positions on vital media and technology policies. It analyzes the positions of nine Democratic and Republican presidential candidates polling at 3 percent or above in recent national polls. Sens Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) stand out for their proposals to invest billions to expand internet access and rein in steep broadband prices that keep low-income families and people of color offline.

The Truth About the Digital Divide

At the outset of their recent Op-Ed, Blair Levin and Larry Downes reject federal policymakers’ singular focus on promoting rural broadband deployment, arguing that the digital divide is not merely a question of rural access. In fact, they rightly note that there are more disconnected folks in urban areas than in rural ones. Millions of disconnected people live where broadband is already deployed, but still don’t subscribe to it.

How can we save New Jersey’s local news from the wrecking ball?

A demolition team rolled in to 9 Broadcast Plaza in early June, tearing down Northern New Jersey’s only broadcast television studio.

The FCC Must Abandon Its Plan to Disconnect Low-Income Families

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a package of fatally flawed plans that would fundamentally undercut Lifeline. May 15's FCC oversight hearing is an opportunity for Congress to hold the agency accountable for its disastrous proposals. 

Title II Is the Best Way to Protect the Internet. Period.

People actually need Title II and all of the protections it provides for internet users. Here’s why.

Lawmakers in the New Congress Support an Open Internet

Initial Free Press research shows that of the nearly 100 new House members, 70 percent of first-term Democratic Reps have already publicly stated their support for real network neutrality. Some of them fought for net neutrality in previous elected positions — like Rep Anthony Brindisi (D-NY), who as an assemblyman in New York pushed for a state bill to restore open-internet protections after the FCC’s misguided repeal. 

The Racial Digital Divide Persists

In 2016, Free Press released Digital Denied, which showed that disparities in broadband adoption — commonly known as the digital divide —stem not only from income inequality, but from systemic racial discrimination. The report found that nearly half of all people in the country without home-internet access were people of color. Much of that gap was indeed the result of income inequality.

Here's What Congress Needs to Do If the FCC Kills Net Neutrality

There’s still a small chance we could stop the upcoming network neutrality vote — but if we lose the rules, what’s next? First of all, Free Press will take the Federal Communications Commission to court. Suing the FCC poses the best chance for us to win back strong Title II protections.

Congress can’t ‘fix’ net neutrality with a new bill. Here’s why.

[Commentary] The path to victory for network neutrality supporters requires strong leadership from Capitol Hill — but it shouldn’t include a legislative “fix.” First of all, we have a good law already. It’s called Title II of the Communications Act.  What’s more, the Title II Net Neutrality rules have been upheld in court. And the existing law is immensely popular among Republican and Democratic voters, public advocates and businesses.

Don't Believe AT&T's Net Neutrality Lies

Last week, AT&T Senior Vice President Bob Quinn tried (and failed) to undercut Network Neutrality supporters by insisting that Free Press has been foretelling doom and gloom since 2010. That’s when the Federal Communications Commission adopted weak open-internet rules that didn’t cover mobile access. Quinn claims that none of Free Press’ predictions about carriers engaging in mobile blocking ever came true — but he conveniently overlooks how AT&T blocked FaceTime on its cellular networks in 2012 and 2013.

Pai's Big-Media Handout Won't Help Communities

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai claimed in a New York Times Op-Ed that his ill-conceived plans to overhaul media-ownership rules are in fact a long-overdue move to rescue the struggling newspaper industry. The chairman’s piece is rife with lies of omission that render his argument meaningless.

GOP Lawmakers' Many Privacy Hypocrisies

[Commentary] In essence, the GOP leaders and members voting the wrong way this week have accomplished an exquisitely dishonest trifecta. They gutted the Federal Communications Commission’s privacy rules based on a Title II statute while claiming that the Title II statute still protects you. Then they promised to gut the same Title II statute while claiming that the Federal Trade Commission still protects you. And it turns out they want to gut the FTC too — the very same agency they’re holding up as a champion of privacy protections. Last but not least, these lawmakers say the FTC’s approach to online privacy is superior because the agency analyzes each potential violation on a case-by-case basis while the FCC’s privacy protections are rooted in broad bright-line rules.

With the aid of their industry donors, the GOP has tried to frame this fight as a debate about complex legal authority and bureaucratic procedures. The reality is much simpler. They’re opposed to any regulations that put the interests of real people before the profit margins of monopoly Internet service providers, and they will take up whatever nonsensical procedural complaints are handy to chip away at strong consumer protections.

Racial Justice Leaders Mark the Two-Year Anniversary of the Net Neutrality Rules

Feb 26 was the two-year anniversary of the FCC’s Open Internet Order, the monumental victory that enshrined Net Neutrality principles in strong rules backed by Title II legal authority. On Feb 27, a coalition of racial justice leaders and open internet champions held a briefing to celebrate this important milestone — and to gear up for the fights ahead. As Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron noted, the story of winning Net Neutrality is the story of millions of people showing up to push policymakers in DC to do the right thing.

But some elected officials didn’t need pushing. Rep Maxine Waters (D-CA) understood from the first how important the open internet is for Black and Latinx communities in particular. “The Internet and social media have empowered individuals and communities all across this country to organize and mobilize in unprecedented numbers,” she said. “You have to ask yourself, who would benefit [from] any attempt to roll back internet freedoms?”

New FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Is Off to an Orwellian Start

Newly minted Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai took a page out of President Trump’s playbook and issued his own version of executive orders to undercut affordable broadband, greenlight more media consolidation and endanger key protections for internet users. Chairman Pai bypassed the democratic process, using “delegated authority” to deprive the full Commission of a vote (something he’s repeatedly railed against other chairs for doing), and shoving all these orders out the door on a Friday afternoon. Unfortunately for Chairman Pai, we’re committed to holding him accountable every day of the week. Here are the actions Trump’s new chairman tried to sneak under the radar:
1. Closed the FCC’s inquiry into zero-rating programs.
2. Stopped nine companies from providing discounted broadband to low-income families.
3. Killed the FCC’s guidance to broadcasters regarding shared service agreements and consolidation.
4. Killed a fledgling FCC inquiry regarding flexible spectrum use.
5. Rescinded a report on improving the nation’s digital infrastructure.
6. Rescinded a progress report on E-rate program modernization.
7. Set aside two orders for violations of political-file rules.
8. Set aside a white paper from the FCC’s Homeland Security Bureau addressing cybersecurity risk reduction.
9. Withdrew requirement that noncommercial stations file ownership-diversity data.

Internet Users Beware: Marsha Blackburn --- a Diehard Net Neutrality Foe --- Is Now in Charge of a Powerful House Subcommittee

Bad news: Rep Marsha Blackburn (R–TN) is the new chair of the House Communications Subcommittee. That’s the body charged with overseeing the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, and it’s supposed to ensure that everyone has access to open and affordable communications tools — no matter who they are or where they live. Here are a few of Rep Blackburn’s greatest hits:
1. She’s leading the fight to kill Net Neutrality.
2. She was one of SOPA’s most vocal supporters (and maybe still is).
3. She wants Comcast to censor your news.
4. She wants to take Lifeline phone and internet service away from people who can’t otherwise get affordable connections.
5. She wants to kill community broadband networks.
6. She wants to stop the FCC from protecting your privacy online.

Public TV and the FCC Spectrum: A Mystery and an Opportunity

The Free Press Action Fund recently set out to determine which public TV stations are taking part in the Federal Communications Commission's broadcast incentive auction. First we noted which stations had already publicly announced their intention to participate or not. Then in July, we contacted by phone all auction eligible public broadcasters that had not yet publicized their plans. Here's what we found:

  • 54 public TV stations confirmed that yes, they are participants in the auction.
  • 87 public TV stations confirmed that no, they aren't participants in the auction.
  • 40 stations refused to say whether they applied to participate.
  • 104 stations didn't respond to the survey.

The participating stations the Free Press Action Fund identified are concentrated in 18 states and the District of Columbia. If they were to sell their spectrum at the maximum opening-bid prices, they would collectively stand to earn over $14 billion.

Facebook's Actions Have Dangerous Consequences for People of Color

Facebook talks a good game when it comes to fighting for racial justice and protecting human rights. Mark Zuckerberg has made important symbolic statements in support of the Movement for Black Lives, including putting up a giant Black Lives Matter sign at Facebook headquarters. But Facebook often fails to live up to this kind of rhetoric — and that has dangerous consequences for people of color.

The company has a habit of removing documentation of human-rights abuses at the request of law enforcement and government agencies. This came up most recently in the case of Korryn Gaines: At law enforcement’s request, Facebook deactivated Gaines’ livestream of an encounter with Baltimore police that left her dead and her young son wounded. There have also been numerous other reports of Facebook censoring content from Black and indigenous activists; it’s also disabled the accounts of Palestinian journalists. By removing these kinds of recordings and documentation, Facebook is stifling activism and allowing law enforcement and government agencies to control the narrative on a platform that plays an increasingly important role in breaking news. It’s time for Facebook to make a conscious choice to change its policies and live up to the values it espouses.