Net neutrality is vital for people of color — and that's one more reason Congress needs to make it law

Ajit Pai FCC

Preserving an open internet is important to ensure that people of color and those without money or influence don't lose a pathway to economic success.
Congress must create new net neutrality legislation that empowers new entrants to the marketplace prohibits gatekeeping that stops innovation.

Access to Internet content without your cable or mobile phone company deciding what sites you can visit, also known as net neutrality, is now over thanks to Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and his acolyte Chair Ajit Pai.

Pai’s efforts to weaken consumer protections and allow large cable and phone companies to profit off the backs of the masses isn’t surprising, it’s predictable. And they fall right in line with Trump’s determination to roll back, shed, gut and undermine any rule or policy associated with the Obama Administration. It only took Mr. Pai’s FCC a few months to cut off elderly and poor people’s access to affordable mobile devices and to roll back Obama-era rules to ban abuses in prison phones. Now Trump’s FCC has voted ended net neutrality, the only policy ensuring equal access to the Internet for all of us.

Protecting corporations appears to be a top priority for the Trump Administration. Whether it’s the tax bill filled with giveaways to America’s wealthiest or undermining quality, affordable health care coverage to benefit insurance companies, Trump has shown a careless disregard for our most vulnerable. The situation is no different here. Net neutrality probably has the biggest implications for American economic mobility than any other attack we’ve seen from him thus far.

Whether intentional or not, the FCC's actions will cut off internet economy participation, consistent with a long, sad history of negative impacts on communications infrastructure for communities of color. Chairman Pai worked for Attorney General Jeff Sessions as his counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and clearly he’s come into this position with a “free market” agenda that will hurt consumers, creators and entrepreneurs alike. Pai’s proposal would choke off access to the most powerful tool people of color have in the fight against poverty, and would eliminate strict consumer privacy protections. Worse, it leaves the door wide open for Comcast or Verizon to control what sites are open or closed to the public.

Ending net neutrality will kill the economic potential of nearly half of America’s population. Low barriers to business entry will disappear. Black Latino wealth numbers already decimated by the Great Recession will only get worse. And, we’ll have to welcome back the gatekeepers. How will women and minorities fare when left to the chummy old boy's club? Venture capital funding, already coming in at a slow-drip pace for entrepreneurs of color, will all but disappear. Even weakening net neutrality rules will reinforce anti-meritocracy. We must ensure that all people are full participants in every aspect of media, tech, and innovation.

A vital tool for economic opportunity and for fighting hate

People of color have no reason to trust that corporations will act against their own business interests. We have no choice but to seek long-term solutions that protect net neutrality from the whims and wishes of politicians.

The time has come for Congress to move legislation that creates new net neutrality laws designed to grow along with future technologies. These measures should ensure a competitive marketplace that empowers new entrants and prohibits gatekeeping that strangles future innovation. We also need regulatory regimes that encourage the fastest possible deployment of new technologies to give businesses and consumers new ways to receive broadband services. Competition will keep everyone honest.

The same companies that control access to the internet also own most of the content. How is it possible for any independent company to expect to be treated fairly when the company's competitors control access to the company's customers? Can we really rely on Comcast to choose high internet speed for an online series they don’t own over streaming an NBC program they do?

Modern movements for change started online. From the Arab Spring in 2012, to the launch of the 21st century Civil Rights Movement through #BlackLivesMatter, to the rise of #WaterIsLife on indigenous lands, the Internet has provided people of color with pathways to driving monumental social change against hate. More than that, it’s given our communities a leg up into entrepreneurship and financial stability.

Imagine a world without the viral necessity of Black Twitter, or one where creators like AFROPunk can’t reach their global following. Or think of a world where critical videos from online news outlets like Now This or Vice, outlets that often expose untold narratives, no longer stream clearly on our Facebook walls. This is a world free of diverse, creative talents that make the Internet a special place for people of color and those without money or influence to find economic success. Without immediate Congressional action, that sad world is destined to become our reality.

Brian Woolfolk is the founding executive director of Full Color Future, a new thinktank and advocacy organization committed to changing the narrative about people of color in media, tech and innovation. With over 20 years of Hill experience, Brian served as Democratic Counsel on the US House Judiciary Committee and advised Committee Members on the Telecommunications Act, media ownership diversity, and free speech issues.

Full Color Future has received funding from tech companies and foundations supporting net neutrality. Learn more about Full Color Future at http://ift.tt/2AT2d7B.

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