Jazmine Ulloa
California pledged to protect net neutrality — the showdown is here
When the Federal Communications Commission voted in 2017 to roll back net neutrality protections, state Democratic leaders pledged to wage a fight with the Trump administration to preserve fair and open access to the internet in California. Now two bills facing final approval in the Assembly and Senate this week have become a proxy battle in the larger national fight to reshape the internet. The ambitious proposals would establish the strongest net neutrality rules in the nation, safeguards that advocates say would be stronger than those repealed by the FCC.
California is trying to bring back net neutrality, but the debate is complicated
California state lawmakers are angling for another fight with the Trump administration, this time to revive federal net neutrality rules that they say are crucial to a fair, open and free internet.
California wanted to bridge the digital divide but left rural areas behind. Now that's about to change
Over the last decade, California’s urban centers have become technology hubs, cities where free Wi-Fi and fiber optic lines are ubiquitous. But in low-income neighborhoods, across the state’s inland regions and in rural communities — often home to large migrant populations — families struggle to connect at all. Some elected officials see that reality as proof that a digital divide is leaving many people behind. And they’ve set out to remedy it. In 2007, the state established the California Advanced Services Fund to offer companies incentive to help bridge the gap.