Digital future for most disadvantaged: we need a permanent broadband subsidy

Incremental progress and temporary band-aids to mend the digital divide aren't a sufficient response to such a fundamental obstacle to equity and opportunity; as the late Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis argued, unequal internet access is "the civil rights issue of the 21st Century." That's why Congress must now work to transform the temporary Emergency Broadband Benefit initiative into a permanent broadband assistance program. Civil rights advocates–including the National Urban League, the NAACP, and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council–have laid out a bold, direct solution to this crisis in digital equality: a long-term, federally-funded Permanent Broadband Benefit (PBB) program. Faith leaders are also speaking out in support of the PBB proposal, emphasizing that full digital enfranchisement is a prerequisite to full civic and political enfranchisement. We need universal broadband connectivity for everyone; we need the Permanent Broadband Benefit. 

[Dr. Fallon Wilson is Vice President for Policy at the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC).]