FCC Asks for Public Input on Eliminating Digital Redlining

The Federal Communications Commission opened a proceeding Wednesday to ask for public comment on how to tackle the issue of digital redlining and to create policies that combat digital discrimination and promote equal access to broadband throughout the US. 

Broadband access has become a must-have service in American society. The pandemic highlighted the need for citizens to have high-speed internet to be able to access remote work, education and health care. But there are many places in the US that lack access to affordable, consistent high-speed internet service. While this lack of access in some parts of the country can be blamed on geography or low population density that make network deployment expensive, there's also mounting evidence that some communities lack access due to a long history of systemic discrimination. 

Digital redlining is a term used to describe when broadband providers purposefully leave low-income customers on slower, legacy broadband infrastructure while upgrading infrastructure in wealthier communities. It was born out of a practice rooted in the early part of the 20th century. In the 1930s, banks started developing maps to withhold loans for high-risk, "undesirable inhabitant types," who were almost always poor people of color. The redlining extended to a refusal to insure residents in low-income neighborhoods, denial of health care and decisions not to build essential facilities like supermarkets. 

While the practice of redlining by banks and other financial institutions and in real estate has been outlawed, forms of this discrimination still exist. The fear is that the legacy of those maps and those practices is playing out today when it comes to limits on access to affordable, high-quality broadband service. Big internet service providers often focus on wealthier parts of cities where they know they can make a return on investment, while low-income communities are left behind. 

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in November, allocates $65 billion to ensure all Americans get access to broadband. It also mandates that the FCC adopt rules to "facilitate equal access to broadband service." The agency has until November 2023 to adopt final rules. 

The FCC's inquiry is the agency's first attempt at defining those rules. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel called the agency's assigned role -- to ensure equal access to broadband "by preventing and eliminating digital discrimination, on the basis of 'income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin'" -- a "tall task." 

In order to achieve this mandate, she said the agency needs input "from stakeholders far and wide." This includes looking for input from public, state, local and tribal governments, as well as from public interest advocates, academics and the private sector. 

Rosenworcel said the effort to ensure equal access to broadband is a top priority for the FCC. She said the inquiry will help the agency "identify the policies and practices that can lead to digital discrimination." Specifically, the inquiry will ask "how we should define digital discrimination and seek data and analytics to help inform our understanding of when, where, and why it happens."

She added that the law also requires the agency to create "model policies and best practices for states and localities to help them take action to prevent digital discrimination in their communities." And it directs the agency to coordinate with states attorneys general to make sure federal policies support equal access to broadband.  

"The questions we ask about these elements of the law will shape our work going forward," she said.

In February, Rosenworcel created a task force within the agency to help the FCC create policies that combat the discrimination people face in accessing broadband based on where they live, income level, ethnicity, race, religion and national origin.