The Federal Communications Commission is poised to assert itself as the Ministry of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This week, the unelected bureaucrats at the agency will vote on rules to shoehorn the latest woke ideology about race and identity into the internet ecosystem. If you like what leftists have done to public education, then you will love this endeavor. It punishes innovation and hinders opportunities to access the internet — all in the name of equity.
As part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed in 2021, Congress delegated the FCC the power to “take steps to ensure that all people of the United States benefit from equal access to broadband internet access within the service area of a provider of such service.” While the endeavor to promote equality is noble, the agency has found “little to no evidence” of intentional discrimination. It fails to give any examples of digital discrimination where people and communities are systematically unserved based on their “income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin.”
The ‘Disparate Impact’ Dragnet
Leftists at the FCC have decided to use this opportunity to deliberately misread the statute and force equity into the internet ecosystem. The order considers covering a host of services, including “discounts,” “language options,” “credit checks,” marketing, and advertising. I have no idea what this means. Will the FCC investigate whether or not broadband companies are following Disney’s approach to casting?
