COVID-19 Alert

Friend,

Teachers who can’t reach their students. Students who must borrow their neighbors’ Wi-Fi service so they can learn. Seniors who can’t connect to essential services. People who’ve lost their jobs and can’t access unemployment benefits. An ICU doctor who has limited access to communications services.

These are just a few examples of the hundreds of stories our members have shared with us over the last few weeks about how the lack of affordable broadband is impacting their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FCC should be leading efforts to get and keep poor people and people of color — who are disproportionately on the wrong side of the digital divide and are being hit the hardest by the pandemic — online. But the agency’s options are limited since it ditched its Title II legal authority back in 2017 when it repealed the Net Neutrality rules.

Sign the petition today to demand that the FCC restore its Title II authority and bring back Net Neutrality.

Last month, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called on ISPs to abide by a voluntary pledge to keep people connected during the pandemic. And during a recent press conference he said that he’s taken a personal interest in monitoring ISPs’ compliance with this pledge.

Here’s the thing: Pai’s “personal interest” and voluntary pledges aren’t going to get us what we need.

What we need is an FCC with the authority to protect broadband users. But his agency has left people at the mercy of some of the largest and most hated companies in the country (like Comcast). And Pai himself has long cared more about serving those companies than serving the public.

Demand that the FCC reinstate Title II Net Neutrality now and protect our access to lifesaving communications.

We hope you and your loved ones are well.

Thanks for all that you do—

Heather, Lucia and the rest of the Free Press team
freepress.net