Some Diversity Groups Diverge Over Net Neutrality

Over three dozen diversity groups have told the FCC that the current proposal to use Sec. 706 authority to restore network neutrality rules is the way to go, while a handful of groups calling themselves the "new generation of civil rights leaders" appears just as convinced that the FCC needs to reclassify ISP's under Title II common carrier rules to close the digital divide.

In one corner was Rainbow PUSH, the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council, some familiar MMTC diversity initiative supporters, and, in a separate filing, the NAACP, all advocating for Sec. 706.

MMTC and its coalition partners say Sec. 706 would be a sufficiently robust and legally enforceable means for achieving their goals for communities of color, which is to prevent digital redlining and insure them "first-class digital citizenship." The coalition said a big advantage of Sec. 706 is that it will "will maintain a critical baseline level of regulatory certainty by preserving the current, bipartisan approach to regulating broadband communications..."

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John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.