America’s Terrible Internet Is Making Quarantine Worse

In the COVID-19 era, life has moved to the internet, but not everyone has it, thanks to America’s notoriously unequal internet access. As many districts start virtually this fall, some teachers say they’re fighting to ensure that all of their students can log into class each day. Their struggles are just one example of the consequences of America’s failure to get all of its citizens online before this uniquely internet-dependent time. How did such an advanced country leave so many people technologically behind? Experts and former Federal Communications Commission officials describe a federal government that has neglected to treat broadband as a public utility, instead relying on the largely self-regulated internet industry to provide service wherever it wanted, for the price of its choosing. The United States government has historically not seen fast internet as something everyone should have, like it does water or even phone service, and the consequences are becoming frighteningly apparent. “I was responsible for this, and I failed,” said former-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler. For starters, the FCC has failed to figure out where, exactly, the unconnected live, because the maps of broadband access the agency relies on are generated by internet providers and are extremely inaccurate.