Think about who’s opposing municipal broadband

Community-owned broadband networks are thriving across the country. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Community Network Map shows a record 795 public networks delivering fast, affordable and reliable internet—hardly the “magical thinking” Annette Meeks described in her recent commentary in the Minnesota Star Tribune on the Connect Willmar Initiative. (“Municipal broadband: A zombie in our midst,” Feb. 24.) The real “zombie in our midst” is the dark money-fueled misinformation campaigns that keep rising from the dead, recycling the same debunked talking points that big broadband incumbents have peddled for decades. These attacks follow a familiar pattern, aiming to slow the momentum of communities adopting publicly owned networks. Take the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, the nonprofit organization that Meeks leads. Like other industry-backed groups, it trots out outdated claims that public broadband is a failure—ignoring the reality that most municipal networks are thriving. Ironically, the Freedom Foundation claims to champion “individual freedom,” yet Meeks’ argument seeks to deny Minnesotans the freedom to choose the broadband network that best serves their needs. And since the Freedom Foundation is so focused on values, perhaps it should add transparency to its list: Who funds the foundation’s opposition to public broadband? Why do its arguments conveniently mirror those Big Cable has used for decades? No funders are listed on its website.

[Gigi Sohn is the executive director of the American Association for Public Broadband.]