Why We Should All #TakeAKnee And Stand Up For Net Neutrality #MustSee

—This was written by Brigitte F. Daniel, Esq.

 

Around 3 p.m. on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, my phone started blowing up with one angry message after the other. There was the text from a journalist friend, followed by another one from my sista social activist; there were at least five phone calls from colleagues who are fellow tech leaders in Philadelphia where I live and run a cable company. And this is to say nothing of the numerous emails I received, or the number of friends tagging me in “WTF?” social media posts.

The reason behind their ire? A trending headline: The FCC Plans To Roll Back Net Neutrality Rules In Victory for Telecoms.

Why did that particular headline inspire my friends to direct their anger at me? I’m a recently appointed member of the Federal Communication Commission’s Federal Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment. So as an FCC adviser, what was my first reaction to the news about the impending net neutrality deregulation, you ask? Well, I didn’t exactly swoon. To the contrary, my first thought was What !?!…Good Lord… here we go again….

Lest we forget the protests and outrage against a similar proposal in 2014. Back then, the FCC’s plan for “tiered” internet systems and “fast lane” connectivity, sparked a nationwide debate (and an online backlash led by comedian John Oliver that temporarily disabled the FCC’s website). By 2015, more than 4 million people had written into the FCC, petitioned the government, and spoke out on social media in favor of a free and open internet. President Obama lent his power and voice to the cause by successfully reclassifying high-speed Internet service providers as common carriers under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, subjecting these ISPs to stricter regulations that enforced a level playing field for customers.

Level playing fields are important to me. They are important because without them, many people, and absolutely people of color, undoubtedly would not have had the opportunity to become successes, rock stars, or pioneers. I was nominated to the FCC Advisory Council because of my longstanding commitment to bridging the sociocultural/socioeconomic digital divide and offering affordable technologies that have leveled the playing field in Philadelphia’s most underserved communities. For the last 10 years, I have held the title of executive vice president of Wilco Electronic Systems Inc. Wilco is the cable company that my father founded in 1977 and is one of the last remaining African American-owned cable operators in the country. In leading my family’s business, I am uniquely positioned within the cable, telecommunications, and tech sectors to bring issues of inequality and inequity to some of the industry’s most influential decision makers. When my father began his company 40 decades ago, part of his motivation was to create connectivity in low-income communities via cable television. In recent years, I’ve picked up the mantle and added my own legacy; adding a twist by becoming a staunch advocate for universal internet access and by creating numerous initiatives and platforms that create opportunities to address tech disparities within minority communities.

So it’s ironic that I was chosen for the FCC committee to make recommendations for programs and opportunities to empower the digital lives of minority and disadvantaged communities. But no such program or legislation is likely to thrive if we repeal Obama-era net neutrality regulations. There is no way around it: What the FCC is planning will be the e-downfall of the very communities I’ve been appointed to protect.

Now, as an operator, I absolutely understand the various arguments for the need to spur broadband investment and for government to employ a light touch on market forces. Still, we’re basing these determinations around the current state of affairs, what our digital world looks like now. But what about the things we don’t know? If there’s anything we’ve learned it’s that the e-times, they are always a-changing. There are innovations we can’t forecast, essential internet services that don’t yet exist and therefore can’t be factored into our decision-making. Five short years from now, the online landscape will be radically different. What unpredictable ramifications will rolling back net neutrality rules have on the internet users of tomorrow? The very fact that we don’t know what the internet of the future will look like or how it will be used is exactly why we need regulations that put parity before profit.

Connectivity Is a Right, Not a Privilege

Sadly, in many cases, the people who would be the most harmed by internet deregulation are communities of color, the underrepresented,  the disenfranchised….the black and brown.

Part of being black in America is that it is inherently a part of our DNA to fight for our rights. Whether it was the right to educate ourselves, the right to earn a living, or the right to vote….we have had to fight for everything…and still do. The internet has now become one of those rights.

I posed the internet-as-a-civil-right theory in a 2015 TedX Talk held in Philadelphia. My argument: Over the years, access to a high-functioning and open internet has become a civil right because it ensures our ability to participate in the civil and political life of society without discrimination or repression. Essentially, civil rights are a class of rights that protect individuals’ freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. The creation of net neutrality was to protect the right to use the internet freely, without the threat of any type of interference.

What makes the argument against net neutrality so complex and important, and what many people don’t realize, is that the debate first started out as a First Amendment issue. Over time it has evolved into a conversation about the regulation of the internet as a utility. But if we strip net neutrality back to where and why it was created, its fundamental premise was to protect communications.

And that is why this issue is so important. It is clear that the internet is becoming more than just a utility, but an actual imperative to live, work and play. The internet is the only onramp that many of us have to obtain jobs, receive education, take advantage of fortuitous opportunities, obtain healthcare, create social movements and even find love. So why gamble with even the slightest chance that the freedom associated with its use, may be severely limited if we do away with protections, that at the least, keep it neutral.

A Less Open Internet = A Wider Digital Divide

Like many urban cities, lack of access to the internet is still a big problem. In Philadelphia, it is well documented that 40% of households are not connected to the web. But if net neutrality is rolled back, there is the possibility that there will be a new digital divide—one that is not only about access, but also about something even more dire as technology evolves: speed.

Speed is everything. If you have an illness that requires doctor visits but, like if you’re like 12.3% of adult Americans who don’t have insurance, then good luck finding affordable treatment without high-speed bandwidth. And don’t even get me started on the everyday ability to be online vs. in-line (as in, ordering your medication refill on your pharmacy’s website instead of waiting forever at the counter).

Of course, we also can’t forget the countless ways the internet has become the means to an income for young entrepreneurs and innovators of color who create new markets and disrupt old ones. One of the beauties of the internet is that it’s the lowest barrier to entry for innovators to create. For folks of color, we need all the breaks we can get when it comes to breaking into tech and media. Take Issa Rae, whose popular 2010 web series Awkward Black Girl led to a 2017 Golden Globe-nomination for her HBO series, not to mention a content creation deal with the network. Rae was able to do this through the easily accessible use of a computer and the internet. A recent TechRepublic article suggests many leaders in Silicon Valley desperately want to broaden their hiring pools yet they claim it’s difficult to find “a pipeline of diverse talent.”

For communities of color, the lack of neutrality protections could eventually block, bundle, or slow down sites that would otherwise influence, inspire, and instruct future coders, programmers, startup founders, and tech executives. Without access. how can they become a part of the pipeline?

One Nation Under a #Hashtag

It is frightening to think where the world would be without the signature social movements of our time such as #BlackLivesMatter and now #MeToo.…both created by black women. These acts of resistance have not only woken up our nation but have sparked global digital activism that has even found its way into the elite locker rooms and playing fields of the National Football League. When could we ever imagine that in the name of racial justice a lone outlier African American quarterback could cause such upheaval and frenzy of the hallowed owner suites of American football just through a simple gesture of #TakeAKnee? These movements are not only being televised…but are being uploaded, downloaded, streamed, posted and tweeted…in real time. If protections are not in place, there is a possibility that maybe not now, but possibly five years from now, companies could block, slow down, or even prohibit use of these platforms if the social message goes against anything that is counter political of the times. Not saying it’s going to happen, but it could.

Ultimately, power does rest with the people to make a change. Sure, the FCC says a public outcry won’t have the same effect it did in 2014. But if The Weinstein Effect has taught us anything it’s that gatekeepers can be thwarted and old guards can topple. We’re seeing it happen around the country every day. The old forces, the old clubs, the old ways of engaging in business and treating people (minorities and women, especially) is shifting.

So, between now and Dec 14^th, let’s raise our voices to turn the tides against the FCC’s proposal. I encourage everyone—especially people of color—to find a way to take a knee on the issue of net neutrality. Make a stand with the FCC about why you don’t want these protections removed. Take to social media to educate others about the dangers of repealing net neutrality and why a free and open internet is essential. Spread the word by starting a hashtag movement (or join others in using #StopNetNeutrality).

Let’s demand that net neutrality protections stay in place or, at the very least, create certain provisions that benefit both customer and provider. Because, believe me, there is always a middle ground.

 

 

The post Why We Should All #TakeAKnee And Stand Up For Net Neutrality appeared first on Black Enterprise.

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