FCC Falsely Claims Community Broadband an 'Ominous Threat to The First Amendment'

In a speech Oct 24, Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O’Rielly insinuated, without evidence, that community owned and operated broadband networks would naturally result in local governments aggressively limiting American free speech rights. “I would be remiss if my address omitted a discussion of a lesser-known, but particularly ominous, threat to the First Amendment in the age of the Internet: state-owned and operated broadband networks,” claimed O’Rielly. “Municipalities such as Chattanooga (TN) and Wilson (NC) have been notorious for their use of speech codes in the terms of service of state-owned networks, prohibiting users from transmitting content that falls into amorphous categories like 'hateful' or “threatening,” O’Rielly claimed. 

“There is no history of municipal networks censoring anyone's speech,” said Christopher Mitchell, a community broadband expert and Director of the Institute for Local Reliance.