Dana Floberg

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?”

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 Rescinded a report on improving the nation’s digital infrastructure.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 Rescinded a progress report on E-rate program modernization.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.

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.

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 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.

[Commentary] AT&T’s proposed buyout of Time Warner already has raised serious concerns from public interest groups and bipartisan lawmakers alike. “Too much concentration of power in the hands of too few,” says Donald Trump. “Less concentration, I think, is generally helpful, especially in the media,” says Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Sen Tim Kaine (D-VA). They have good reason to be worried.

This huge merger would put unprecedented media power — over the Internet, mobile phones, satellite TV, cable channels like CNN and HBO, movie studios and more — under one roof. If this mega merger goes through, AT&T will be saddled with more than $350 billion in total liabilities. What does that mean for subscribers? Higher monthly bills. That’s not idle speculation: It’s exactly what AT&T did after merging with DirecTV. Higher broadband prices will put essential Internet access further out of reach for too many families. Policymakers in Washington are starting to realize what the rest of us already knew: These media mega mergers don’t serve anyone besides Wall Street bankers and overpaid media execs awaiting their golden parachutes. There’s only one thing for the next administration to do: Block this deal.

[Craig Aaron is the president, and Dana Floberg is a policy fellow, at Free Press.]

The Federal Communications Commission took a highly touted step toward the future of wireless communications by opening up huge blocks of spectrum for “5G” broadband uses. (5G stands for “5th Generation” technology, a generic term for the evolution to follow today’s 4G smartphones.) These next-generation networks promise to be faster, denser and more robust than what we have today. They could help usher in an era of innovative services and applications such as self-driving cars and smart-city technology. 5G technologies are still in the testing phase, but the FCC’s decision makes room for early deployment efforts that could offer enormous benefits to the national economy. Unfortunately, as advocates for Internet users point out, the FCC’s decision is by no means perfect. It doesn’t do enough to guarantee that shared use of spectrum — think Wi-Fi — will be a big part of the 5G equation. Giving exclusive use of these frequencies to carriers like AT&T and Verizon would strengthen their stranglehold on valuable spectrum assets, and it could prevent these new technologies from flowing to everyone, especially those who are on the wrong side of the digital divide: rural residents, low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Nonetheless, everyone agrees that the technological advances are crucial, even if there’s debate about how to make those leaps forward.