the readout: Mar 29th

on what happened with the FCC, desiloing tech...and did you hear about TikTok?

Author

Kairos
March 29, 2023

graphic designed by Janelle Quibuyen

For new folks – welcome to ReOrganized! This newsletter is a space for organizers to reckon with tech, the impacts it has on our campaigns, and figure out together how we can reshape tech to work for all of us. 

Okay, but really: we should care about the FCC 

In January, we released a piece about the federal and state tech regulation we’re watching this year, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was a key focus. The FCC will be disbursing billions of dollars in 2023 to states and local communities to invest in expanding broadband infrastructure, improving the economic prospects of underserved communities and making it easier to organize with folks in rural areas. 

This funding is great news – but the FCC is also the only agency with the power to regulate the telecom industry. When California firefighters were trying to coordinate their response to the Mendocino complex fire in 2018, Verizon slowed their “unlimited plan” internet speed down to less than 1% of normal rates – taking advantage of an emergency to force firefighters to upgrade their plan. The Biden administration could task the FCC with figuring out how to address issues like this, as well as working to reduce the cost of broadband for consumers overall.

But the FCC has been deadlocked in a 2-2 partisan split for the entirety of the Biden administration, unable to make any new rules. Two weeks ago, Biden’s FCC nominee Gigi Sohn (whose appointment would have created a Democratic majority) withdrew from the process after a brutal 500-day nomination fight, through which Sohn describes enduring “unrelenting, dishonest, and cruel attacks” on her career, personal political views, and even sexuality.

In her statement, she shared her anger and disappointment at what this will mean for the public:

This means that your broadband will be more expensive for lack of competition, minority and underrepresented voices will be marginalized, and your private information will continue to be used and sold at the whim of your broadband provider.

It means that the FCC will not have a majority to adopt strong rules which ensure that everyone has nondiscriminatory access to broadband, regardless of who they are or where they live, and that low income students will continue to be forced to do their school work sitting outside of Taco Bell because universal service funds can’t be used for broadband in their homes. And it means that many rural Americans will continue the long wait for broadband because the FCC can’t fix its Universal Service programs.

This was a huge loss. Advocacy groups like Free Press have laid out demands for the qualifications of the next Biden Administration nominee, but so far, the administration hasn’t said anything publicly about whether they will put up a new nominee. It took 8 months for them to nominate Gigi Sohn, so we might be waiting a while. 

For us, it points to a bigger problem: even though internet access impacts all of our movements, “tech” is siloed away as a separate issue area. Tech-focused, civil rights, and LGBTQ+ groups urged Democrats to confirm Sohn, but it wasn’t enough. What would have happened if more of us were able to rally in support of this appointment?

In the Learning Lab, we’re breaking down silos

Over the past month, dozens of state and national powerbuilding organizations have been working together in the Kairos Learning Lab to develop strategies for better organizing online and work on building a tech analysis. 

Here are some of the (Zoom chat) reflections from organizers on how they see the connection between their issue areas and tech:

“Our campaign is fighting to pass Just Cause job protections for NYC workers. One thing we are trying to combat in our policy is the use of surveillance and electronic monitoring in workplaces. We’re collaborating with Amazon labor union and targeting Amazon warehouses [right now].” –Make the Road New York

“Where I’ve seen this connection of tech and climate the most has been in Stop Advertising campaigns, things like campaigns to stop media outlets from running ads for Exxon or other fossil fuel companies.” –350 New Hampshire

“Chicago public schools have a new contract [to] monitor “worrisome behavior” on students’ social media and report to police. Meanwhile, schools have no social workers, restorative justice practitioners, etc.” –Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Chicago

“When you cross the border, whether it be via a port of entry or through an unauthorized area, there is technology being used to monitor and identify the people coming into the U.S. I have personally witnessed it and I have testimonies and moments in which we can see a clear connection to how tech was used to track someone.” — La Unión del Pueblo Entro, Texas

Each of these observations speaks to the impact that tech is having on communities and campaigns right now, and points to a way we can strengthen both by incorporating a tech analysis. Does this resonate for you? Where does tech affect your issues or your campaigns?

I can’t believe we’re actually talking about banning TikTok

ICYMI: The Biden administration recently threatened to ban TikTok in the U.S. if the company’s owner, ByteDance, doesn’t sell TikTok to an American company.

Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee brought TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in yesterday for a five-hour hearing on Congressional concerns ranging from data privacy and surveillance to disinformation and propaganda, all in the context of the relationship between the U.S. and China. 

At Kairos, we know this is a complicated issue – we are asking ourselves questions like: How should we address the threat of government surveillance and data-gathering through apps like TikTok? What kind of precedent does banning TikTok set, especially in the context of proposals to ban high schoolers from social media when they use the internet to organize? What would banning TikTok mean for organizers and content creators – especially ones that have left Facebook and Instagram in droves?

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