CEDC Unanimously Adopts Working Group Report on Digital Discrimination

The FCC's Communications Equity and Diversity Council unanimously adopted its Digital Empowerment and Inclusion (DEI) Working Group's report offering recommendations on digital discrimination, during a virtual meeting Monday. The WG received additional time in July to complete its report after Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel expanded the group’s mission (see 2207220073).

Congress “called on the FCC to offer guidance for states and localities to help prevent digital discrimination by internet access service providers,” Rosenworcel said in a statement. “This was a complex and critically important task for the CEDC,” she said: “Earlier this year the Commission adopted a Notice of Inquiry on preventing and eliminating digital discrimination, and I look forward to incorporating these findings into that effort.”

“We understand what's at stake with this task,” said CEDC Chair Heather Gate of Connected Nation. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act “rightfully recognized that in today’s world, access to affordable, reliable, high speed broadband is essential for any person to fully participate in modern society,” Gate said.

The DEI working group, headed by Dominique Harrison, Citi Venture Innovation director-Racial Equity Design and Data Initiative, was tasked with providing recommendations on how to reduce and remove regulatory barriers to equitable investments in broadband access and adoption. “Developing solutions that lead to more equitable outcomes for communities of color should be a priority for all leaders as we work together towards closing the digital divide,” Harrison said. The working group did more than 30 interviews with technology advocates, civil rights organizations and ISPs, said Joi Chaney, National Urban League senior vice president-policy and advocacy: "We made sure we were hearing from perspectives ... and we had a dynamic process."

The working group “wrestled with a very difficult issue of trying to understand the intent for digital discrimination and really concluded that it certainly needs to be further examined,” said Jon Gant, dean-North Carolina Central University's School of Library and Information Sciences. The final report didn’t adopt a framework on whether discrimination should be determined based on impact or intent, he said, adding it was important the group tried to understand the “economic and technical feasibility issues about connecting everybody to broadband.”

The unanimously adopted report included six recommendations for the FCC to prevent digital discrimination by ISPs and 13 recommendations as the agency works with states and localities on the digital divide. Recommendations included doing more to promote awareness and information sharing among multi-dwelling unit owners to “inform the decision-making process” of entering agreements with ISPs, Gant said. The working group also recommended identifying “local opportunities” to “incentivize equitable deployment" and “avert discriminatory behavior that may result in sustained discrimination or redlining,” he said.

States and localities should work with nonprofit organizations, communities, and the private sector to “promote digital skilling” and ensure consumers have “safe spaces to access the internet,” Gant said. That includes for applying for jobs, registering for services and banking online, he said. The group also recommended encouraging workforce development and training opportunities with a “focus on historically underrepresented communities,” he said.