by Amalia Deloney and Joseph Torres
Last August, Latino organizations throughout the country joined forces to launch the coalition “Latinos for Internet Freedom” warning our community that the future of the free and open Internet was in jeopardy.
It now seems that our worst fears are about to be realized. The Internet is the most transformative communications network of our time because of the principle of Network Neutrality, which requires Internet service providers to treat all Web traffic equally. And for years big companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon have been trying to get rid of Net Neutrality. Now, finally, the Federal Communications Commission is poised to weigh in on this crucial issue. According to numerous reports, the rules being proposed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski would fundamentally change how the Internet has always operated.
If approved at the Commission’s Dec. 21 meeting, the chairman’s proposed rules would permit companies to discriminate online for the first time by interfering with the public’s ability to have unfettered access to content of their choice. The rules are worse for wireless, allowing carriers to block, degrade and slow down applications they don’t like. That is especially problematic for Latinos because mobile phones are the primary way this growing and significant segment of the community (almost 20 percent) accesses the Internet.
It would permit the big phone and cable companies to favor their own online content or that belonging to a select few by creating a pay-for-play scheme known as paid prioritization.
Any company that can’t afford the extra cost will be slowed down. The FCC chairman’s proposal is fake Net Neutrality that betrays President Obama’s pledge to “take a back seat to no one” on the issue. Many critics of open Internet protections claim that only so-called “privilege” Internet users care about Network Neutrality.
But this bogus argument is dismissive of the nearly 20 million Latinos who are online and use the open Internet to communicate with our families, organize in our communities, fight discrimination, support our businesses, educate our children, and speak for ourselves online.
In recent years, we have seen the Latino community use the power of the open Internet to fight for immigrant rights or to denounce anti-immigrant hate speech spewed by media personalities like former CNN host Lou Dobbs.
That is why more than 45 Latino organizations including, Presente.org, Center for Media Justice, National Hispanic Media Coalition and National Association of Hispanic Journalists joined the Latinos for Internet Freedom coalition to fight to preserve the open Internet that has allowed our community to speak for ourselves and tell our own stories.
The FCC chairman’s proposal would make it harder for Latinos to establish an online media presence. It would erect the same kind of economic barriers online that historically have prevented Latinos from owning their own radio and TV stations.
To get his proposed rule passed, the FCC chairman will need the support of Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn, both of whom have strong track records of standing up for the interests of the Latino community and communities of color.
We urge Commissioners Copps and Clyburn not to vote for a fake Network Neutrality rule that fails on several counts. It fails to ban paid prioritization, does not extend protections to wireless networks, does not close all loopholes, thus allowing broadband providers to exempt themselves from the rules; doesn’t prevent the creation of a private Internet, nor does it establish the commission’s clear legal authority to pass open Internet protections.
To protect our Internet freedom, the commission needs to hear not just from lobbyists, but from the public. Hispanic Link.
(Amalia deloney is the grassroots policy director for the Center for Media Justice. Joseph Torres is senior advisor for the public interest group Free Press. Contact the FCC at Juliu s.genachowski@fcc.gov. . Phone 202-418-1000).
