The Federal Communications Commission has considered four aspects of diversity: 1) Viewpoint diversity ensures that the public has access to a wide range of diverse and antagonistic opinions and interpretations provided by opportunities for varied groups, entities and individuals to participate in the different phases of the broadcast industry; 2) Outlet diversity is the control of media outlets by a variety of independent owners; 3) Source diversity ensures that the public has access to information and programming from multiple content providers; and 4) Program diversity refers to a variety of programming formats and content.
Diversity
Will Digital Discrimination Policies End Discount Plans for Low Income Consumers?
The Federal Communications Commission plans to adopt both a disparate treatment (intent) and disparate impact (effects) analysis to determine whether there is any discrimination of internet access.
FCC Adds Additional Languages and Features to Wireless Emergency Alerts
The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to improve Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) by making WEA messages available in more than a dozen additional languages, including American Sign Language; adding increased functionality; and providing public information on where and how WEA is available. At present, WEA messages are available only in English or Spanish. In a new Order, the FCC required wireless providers that participate in WEA to support messages in the 13 most commonly spoken languages in the US as well as English and American Sign Language.
The Road to Internet Governance Forum 2023
At the upcoming Internet Governance Forum (IGF) from October 8 to 12 in Kyoto, Japan, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications & Information, Alan Davidson, will join government officials from the European Commission, Kenya, and IGF host Japan to convene a multi-stakeholder dialogue on how to realize the principles enshrined in the Declaration for the Future of th
The FCC’s clock is ticking on defining digital discrimination
In the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress tasked the Federal Communications Commission to “take steps to ensure that all people of the United States benefit from equal access to broadband internet access within the service area of a provider of such service.” In the statute, the term “equal access” refers to “equal opportunity to subscribe to an offered service that provides comparable speeds, capacities, latency, and other quality of service metrics in a given area, for comparable terms and conditions.” In principle, Congress’s directive is straightforward and reasonable cons
Commerce Secretary Raimondo and Deputy Secretary Graves Promote Inclusive and Equitable Economic Growth for Latino Communities
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Deputy Secretary Don Graves hosted Latino elected officials, leaders, and stakeholder organizations to solicit their input on Commerce initiatives that will assist in promoting inclusive economic growth for Latino communities. In 2022, the Department of Commerce released its first-ever Equity Action Plan that addresses the importance of building an economy that empowers all people, especially in underserved communities. The
Minnesota Releases Draft Digital Opportunity Plan
On August 21, 2023, the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development released its Draft Digital Opportunity Plan for public comment. According to the plan, Minnesota's vision for digital equity is a future where digital equity connects all Minnesota residents to opportunities, options, and each other. The Office of Broadband Development created this plan following extensive stakeholder engagement and digital equity data collection.
Tri-Caucus Chairs Urge Biden-Harris Administration to Replenish Funding for Affordable Connectivity Program to Bridge Digital Divide
The Chairs of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus wrote to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to urge quick action to replenish one of the Biden-Harris Administration’s signature initiatives – the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)—created in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Biden-Harris Administration has consistently led on internet access and affordability issues and has done more to close the digital divide than its predecessors.
The Internet Didn’t Destroy Local Languages; It’s Helping Preserve Them
If you Google the question “Is the Internet killing local languages and cultures,” you will receive a lot of results that suggest the answer is yes. But if you look at them a bit more closely, you will see that the most dire warnings tend to be from 2010 to 2017. More recent results often take the opposite stance—that technology actually helps preserve local languages. Advances in machine translation are clearly part of this shift in opinion. But there are also important economic, geopolitical, and cultural forces at work. Languages have always evolved as if in a marketplace.
Sen Markey and Rep Matsui Reintroduce the Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency Act
Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) and Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA) reintroduced their Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency Act. Specifically, the Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency Act would: