The pandemic is highlighting how serious the consequences are for those who lack reliable and affordable access to the internet. Disproportionately, the shift to remote work and online learning is hurting communities of color. According to the most recent US census, 43.4% of Black households and 38.6% of Hispanic households lack meaningful internet access, compared to 24% of white households. As our society and economy continues to digitize, those who are unconnected are going to fall further behind just by staying where they are.
Charter Communications filed a waiver request on May 11 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) related to its award in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction. Charter, like all RDOF auction winners, promised to bring broadband to unserved areas.
In 2020, states committed to significant funding to expand access to broadband services, even amid an economic recession. The COVID-19 pandemic—and the necessity to move routine activities such as schooling and doctors’ visits online to maintain social distancing—sharpened the focus of governors and lawmakers in 2020 on the need to close the digital divide. States continued to establish programs to oversee broadband development and expand the types of entities that could engage in broadband deployment projects.
In the wake of heightened online radicalization over the past several years, including the rise of far-right nationalism, violence, and harms to democracy globally, it is clear that technology platforms are playing an outsized role in amplifying racialized disinformation and fomenting real world consequences.
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