Free Press

On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a bedrock principle of administrative law called the Chevron doctrine. The vehicle was an opinion for two cases, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce.

People expect unfettered and affordable access to communication services—and a media system that provides accurate news and information. A significant and bipartisan majority of Americans want to make sure their communications and internet activity are private, and do not want to see discrimination or intentionally false information online. Free Press Action's policy platform is a guide for candidates and policymakers seeking to uphold their constituents’ rights to connect and communicate and is supported by our members across the country, including in every state and territory.

On behalf of Free Press, the African American Research Collaborative (AARC) and BSP Research (BSP) completed a survey of 3,000 American adults to better understand how Americans use media and technology to gain information, how they deal with misinformation and safety online, what privacy concerns they have about online platforms, what they believe are appropriate roles in content moderation, and whether they perceive a need for more independent news sources in the current media and political environment. Key findings included:

On May 9, the US Senate passed the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization package without a proposed amendment to provide $6 billion to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).  Without this injection of new capital to the ACP, the broadband-access subsidy that has helped more than 23 million households get and stay online will expire in May. Free Press Action Internet Campaign Director Heather Franklin said “Free Press Action is deeply disappointed in Congress for failing to pass funding for this essential and successful internet-access subsidy ... While the program’s days

On April 15, a coalition of 271 civil-society groups and local, state and Tribal governments sent a letter to the House of Representatives that urges all members to sign a discharge petition filed by Rep Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in support of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Extension Act. By filing a discharge petition, a member of Congress can bring a bill out of committee to be voted on by the entire chamber.

A coalition of more than 200 civil-society organizations, researchers and journalists sent a letter to the top executives of the leading social-media platforms that calls on them to strengthen platform-integrity efforts to protect democratic elections worldwide in 2024. 

The claim that restoring light-touch Title II authority and basic Open Internet rules would harm—or did harm, from 2015 through 2018—ISPs’ broadband network investments is extraordinary. Not only because mountains of evidence from the ISPs themselves demonstrate its falsity; it is also extraordinary because the mechanism by which this supposed harm would occur is illogical and unreasonable, and has been proven ever more outlandish over time.  ISPs exist to generate economic returns for their shareholders.

Free Press explains that the Federal Communications Commission's Title II authority allows it to safeguard Net Neutrality and hold companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon accountable to internet users across the United States. Title II is not just a legal framework that protects Net Neutrality. The ability to access quality broadband service no matter where one may live, or no matter one’s racial or ethnic identity, still matters. The ability to subscribe to broadband at an affordable price still matters.