Free net--at stake on the 2024 ballot--settles U.S. president and down-ballot races
Nita Wiggins
Author, U.S. politics commentator and essayist, university lecturer on "How African American Women Affect Policy: From Truman to the 2024 Election"
(PARIS, France) U.S. eligible voters ages 18 to 34 mostly voted for “Candidate Couch” by not casting a ballot during the 2022 midterms. Staying on the couch in 2024 opens the possibility that free internet goes away. Internet users could face a future of paying premiums to watch online videos and content of all descriptions.
Free internet versus the “Trump Throttle of 2018” is on the ballot.
“…each person should be able to count on a national net neutrality policy (meaning free and equal internet service) that ensures the essential service is fast, open, and fair—for all of us.” ? FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel, 2024
In effect, the Democrat-appointed majority reclassified broadband internet as an essential service, one to be regulated for fairness under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.
Here's more from FCC Chair Rosenworcel’s 2024 statement upon repealing the Trump administration’s actions:
“In the post-pandemic world, we know that broadband is a necessity, not a luxury. We know that it is an essential service. And when a consumer has a problem with it, they should be able to reach out to the Nation’s expert on communications and get the help they need.”
Source: "Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet," page 3. The link is here https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-402082A2.pdf. Date: April 2024.
In April 2024, the vote of FCC commissioners fell 3-2 along partisan lines. Three Democrats voted for rules to keep free internet for users; two Republicans voted to empower service providers to regulate themselves. Had the GOP won the vote, they would have been clear to bring back throttling.
Ajit Pai (the FCC-designated chair under President Trump from January 2017 to January 2021) explained his belief that "heavy-handed" government rules could squash the growth of the internet.
From a PBS interview in 2018, Chair Pai said, in part: “… we could end up disincentivizing companies from wanting to build out Internet access.”
He was simply incorrect. Statistica shows that worldwide internet usage ballooned from 3.7 million to 5.4 million people (the change from 2018 to 2023).
Interpret Chair Pai's statement as Relax rules so that internet providers can manage themselves and handle business better for all.
Mr. Pai was interviewed by PBS’s William Brangham. Judy Woodruff hosted the April 2017 PBS Newshour program. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/fcc-chair-ajit-pai-explains-wants-scrap-net-neutrality
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Any motivation to vote yet?
About 41 million Gen Z voters are eligible this year, according to Tufts’ CIRCLE? and Tisch College, which together focus on youth voting. See the Tufts graphics below.?These voters are young and ethnically diverse.
The Collective PAC and cofounder Quentin James concentrate on Black voters, and he laments that the younger set has not yet copied their elders' model of participation.
"If you need a directive tonight, in terms of who you should be targeting as far as work for your organization, we need to talk to young Black voters," said Mr. James during a Sunday night #WinWithBlackMen video call at which former President Barack Obama explained policy positions of the Harris-Walz ticket.
Continued Mr. James: "So, as Black men, we need you all to be surrogate fathers for the next nine days. If you see a Black young person, they are your child—a child of our community. We need you to encourage them to show up and vote for Vice President Kamala Harris."
As an aside, here's what current about Black men as voters, according to Mr. James and other get-out-the-vote workers who are Black men. "Black men are showing up. Black voters are showing up. You know Black men are going to support Vice President Harris. We just got to finish the race, ya’ll."
Watch Mr. James and President Obama on the #Win With Black Men online discussion (from 21:20 to 30:00 and from 44:00 to 1:11:00, respectively). The program aired on Roland Martin's Black Star Network. The link is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIvBngiVMUs
Let's backtrack beyond 2022 and look at all young voters
How much possible disaffection remains for the roughly 77% of the 18 to 34 age group that didn’t vote in 2018? Before sitting out, consider: candidates seeking votes other than in the presidential race have a hand in preserving open, free, and equal internet. Down-ballot races no longer can be fodder for TV commentators alone.
For example, 52 Congress people served on the most recent Energy and Commerce Committee and the Communications and Technology Subcommittee. The policy approaches of these office-holders and office-seekers in 2024 could influence future internet rules and pricing.
Now, how does this potentially motivating question sit with people who lean toward "Candidate Couch" this year? Do you want to pay a premium to watch your favorite series and other video content, or not?
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? Now a staple, streaming services have penetrated upwards of 90 percent of U.S. households--and as high as 99 percent, according to some monitoring agencies.
A Paris-based author, political commentator on TV, and university lecturer, Nita Wiggins specializes in equal opportunity and civil rights. She teaches "How African American Women Affect Policy: From President Truman to the 2024 Election" at Sciences Po Université. Wiggins correctly predicted, in 2015, the election win of Candidate Trump in 2016. Her memoir, Civil Rights Baby: My Story of Race, Sports, and Breaking Barriers in American Journalism, can be purchased globally. To get your printed copy or e-book, visit www.NitaWiggins.com.