Free Press
Media 2070: An Invitation to Dream Up Media Reparations
This essay reveals the critical role that trafficking of enslaved Africans played in making our nation’s earliest media financially viable.
The Trump FCC's Repeal of Net Neutrality Is Still Wrong, and Still Hurting People Without Internet Access
No amount of lying by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai will change this reality: The Trump FCC’s repeal of Net Neutrality protections and agency authority were wrong in 2017 and they’re still wrong today.
Free Press and Allies File Lawsuit Challenging Trump's Executive Order Against Social-Media Companies (Free Press)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Thu, 08/27/2020 - 16:27
The Trump FCC's Net Neutrality Repeal Is Still Wrong
Public interest commenters, including public safety officials, overwhelmingly agreed with Free Press’s assessment that the Federal Communications Commission’s misguided repeal of Net Neutrality and its authority over broadband internet access service (“BIAS”) harms the Lifeline program, pole attachment regulation, and public safety. These commenters also overwhelmingly agreed that the best remedy for such harms would be for the Commission to once again correctly classify broadband as a Title II service protected by strong open internet rules.
Struggling to Afford Broadband During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Free Press)
Submitted by benton on Wed, 05/13/2020 - 12:11
Members of Congress, Digital-Rights and Social-Justice Advocates Call for COVID-19 Legislation to Support Phone and Internet Access for All
Access Now, Common Sense Media, Consumer Reports, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, Free Press Action, Libraries Without Borders, MediaJustice, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge jointly delivered more than 110,000 petition signatures to the Congress.
Free Press Weighs in on Harms of FCC's Net Neutrality Repeal in Response to Appeals-Court Remand
Free Press condemned the Federal Communications Commission’s abandonment of its authority to safeguard internet users and promote universal access to an open and affordable internet. The filing was in response to an Oct 2019 US Court of Appeals decision to remand for further consideration by the FCC three key issues related to the agency’s 2017 network neutrality repeal, which also rolled back other vital protections under Title II of the Communications Act.
The FCC’s Fair-Weather First Amendment Heroes (Free Press)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Wed, 04/15/2020 - 12:59830 Groups Urge Congress to Halt Broadband, Electricity and Water Shutoffs in Next COVID-19 Relief Bill
830 utility-justice, environmental, faith, digital-rights and civil-rights groups sent a letter to Congress calling for the next congressional COVID-19 relief package to include a moratorium on broadband, electricity and water shutoff. The letter also calls for stimulus funds to address the systemic issues that lead to shutoffs. These issues include racial and economic inequities that can be addressed with improved affordable broadband programs including Lifeline; distributed solar energy; and percentage-of-income water-affordability initiatives.