Bring out the scorecard: The Biden FCC’s First 100 Days
This Saturday marks 100 days since President Biden and Vice President Harris took the oath of office. While that’s a short time in terms of the regulatory process, it’s not too short to look at how the FCC under Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is performing.
Despite the short timeframe, there’s a lot to like with the Commission under her leadership. Among the high points:
Wireless spectrum. Chairwoman Rosenworcel and the Commission staff deserve huge praise for taking quick action last March to open up 100 megahertz of new wireless spectrum for 5G use. It’s hard to think of any issue more important to the Latino community than ensuring better, faster mobile broadband. That includes more rapid 5G deployment. With 63% of adults and 74% of children living in “wireless only” homes and with Latino adults 9% more likely to own a smartphone than non-Hispanic Whites, wireless is our future and we need spectrum to fulfill demand.
Digital Divide. In February, the Commission established a much-needed program to expand digital opportunity to Americans caught on the wrong side of the Digital Divide. The Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, with its $3.2 billion in appropriated funding from Congress provides households experiencing an economic hardship due to Covid19 with up to $50 a month to connect to broadband for the first time or to offset the cost of an existing subscription along with an additional $100 made available towards the purchase of a qualifying connected device. HTTP was a key partner working with the commission to establish this substantive benefit which addresses the affordability barrier --cited as one of the most insurmountable obstacles to broadband adoption by multicultural communities. You can read HTTP’s FCC filing here.
Broadband mapping. We’ve all seen disheartening photos of Latino schoolkids doing homework in parking lots. The evidence is clear: The U.S. needs to improve how it pinpoints areas lacking broadband. Some states (Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maine, others) have taken matters into their own hands but that’s not enough. We need national action. So a shout-out to Chairwoman Rosenworcel, Commissioner Carr and others for setting an ambitious 4-month plan to improve national broadband mapping that will benefit underserved Latino students.
Universal Service/Lifeline. This issue hits hard on Latinos, especially the rising population of Latinos in rural communities. The FCC deserves credit for how it’s using the Lifeline program to keep Americans connected during the pandemic. This includes easing how Lifeline subscribers access the program, including how they can provide income documentation.
But these efforts do come with a price tag. The Universal Service Fund contribution level for 2021 is 31.8%. There is clear need for policymakers to reform and modernize this program’s unsustainable funding. The longer taking action is delayed, the more difficult it will be to solve. And for millions of Latinos, creating a sustainable solution is critical.
Diversity. This is a major issue for Latinos and we will be watching Chairwoman Rosenworcel for her actions. Starting at the top, the FCC must expand Latino, Black, and indigenous representation throughout the commission’s workforce and advisory committees. It is important for the FCC to have a workforce that reflects the multicultural composition of the United States. Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) representation is critical to developing and implementing an effective and inclusive tech policy agenda. Kudos to Commissioner Starks for establishing the “Early Career Staff Diversity Initiative” to advance equitable opportunities for underrepresented undergraduate, graduate, and law school students.
Section 230 & calls for violence. It’s not only Congress, but more importantly, the platforms themselves that need to step up with concrete action plans and evidence they are serious about combating hate online. Tech companies must be held accountable for hate and especially calls to violence appearing on their platforms. However, calls to repeal the statute are short sighted and don’t acknowledge the potential harms to the access, reach and availability of multicultural voices online. It is worth noting that as it stands today with 230 protections, BIPOC voices are moderated and removed at higher rates than their white peers.
But it is absolutely within the FCC’s legal purview to investigate TV, radio, and digital media for violations that have led to violent actions including the January 6 White Supremacist domestic terrorist attack on the U.S. Capital. This attack followed weeks of misinformation broadcast through publicly owned broadcast airwaves and a specific effort to promote damaging disinformation in Spanish through various public facing platforms.
The Latino community is watching the FCC on this and waiting for action.
Net neutrality. Entire forests have been clear cut to make the paper used in 15 years of FCC and court filings on this issue. No one likes how this issue has ping-ponged back and forth.
Connecting every home to the possibility of digital opportunity is a team lift and calls on us to use every tool at our disposal: the best that private industry has to offer supported by thoughtful and inclusive public policy, and a focussed and collaborative leadership approach at the FCC to ensure that the needed continued investments (both public and private) that have made the internet the valuable resource that it is today are made available to everyone in the future.
100 days down… 1360 more to go.
#inthistogether #httpinclusion #broadband4all #buildtogether