Media 2070 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 63
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include 18 Million Rising, Color Of Change and the
National Hispanic Media Coalition.11
1. Color Of Change, “Targeting and Weakening ALEC” petition, accessed on May 5, 2020: https://act.
colorofchange.org/sign/alec/; David Armiak, “Comcast Is Latest Telecommunications Company to
“Because of network neutrality rules,
activists can turn to the Internet to bypass
the discrimination of mainstream cable,
broadcast and print outlets as we organize
for change,” wrote Black Lives Matter
co-founder Patrisse Cullors in 2014. “It
is because of net neutrality rules that
the Internet is the only communication
channel left where Black voices can speak
and be heard, produce and consume, on
our own terms.”12
Drop ALEC,” PRWatch, May 29, 2019: https://www.prwatch.org/news/2019/05/13474/comcast-latesttelecommunications-company-drop-alec
2. Andrew Prokop, “How ALEC Helps Conservatives and Businesses Turn State Election Wins Into New
Laws,” Vox, March 27, 2015: https://www.vox.com/2014/11/17/7186057/american-legislative-exchangecouncil
3. Ibid; “On Anniversary of Trayvon Martin's Death, ALEC-Backed Stand Your Ground Laws Remain on
Books,” PRWatch, Feb. 26, 2013: https://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/02/11995/anniversary-trayvonmartins-death-alec-backed-stand-your-ground-laws-remain-books
4. Hélène Barthélemy, “Anti-Muslim Fanatic David Horowitz Speaks at Influential American Legislative
Exchange Council,” Southern Poverty Law Center, Sept. 12, 2018: https://www.splcenter.org/
hatewatch/2018/09/12/anti-muslim-fanatic-david-horowitz-speaks-influential-american-legislativeexchange-council
5. Lee Fang and Nick Surgey, “Charles Koch Ramps Up Investment in ALEC as the Lobbying Group
Loses Corporate Funders Over Far-Right Ties,” The Intercept, Nov. 29, 2018: https://theintercept.
com/2018/11/29/alec-corporate-funders-charles-koch/; Ibid Hélène Barthélemy; coalition letter
calling on Altria Group to drop out of ALEC and stop funding the group, Aug. 27, 2018: https://assets.
documentcloud.org/documents/4787111/Altria-Letter-on-Horowitz.pdf
6. David Armiak, “Comcast Is Latest Telecommunications Company to Drop ALEC,” PRWatch, May 29,
In 2015, the Obama FCC passed strong regulations that
ensured the agency had the legal authority to enforce its
own rules. But in 2017, the big cable companies worked
with the Trump FCC to repeal those protections.13 A
subsequent exposé revealed that the industry employed
dirty tricks to try to convince policymakers that there was
widespread support for gutting the Net Neutrality rules.14
2019: https://www.prwatch.org/news/2019/05/13474/comcast-latest-telecommunications-companydrop-alec
7. Ibid; coalition letter to Verizon executives, Aug. 27, 2018: https://www.commoncause.org/wp-content/
uploads/2018/08/Verizon.pdf;
8. Lee Fang and Nick Surgey, “Verizon Leaves Right-Wing Legislative Group ALEC Over Its Invitation to
Anti-Muslim Activist David Horowitz,” The Intercept, Sept. 15, 2018: https://theintercept.com/2018/09/15/
verizon-alec-david-horowitz/?comments=1
9. “Comments of TechFreedom (Berin Szóka,Vinny Sidhu and Graham Owens) and the American
Legislative Exchange Council (Jonathon Hauenschild), in the Matter of Restoring Internet Freedom,” Aug.
30, 2017: https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/10831149266186/TechFreedom-ALEC%20Reply%20Comments%20
on%20Open%20Internet%20Order.pdf
10. Allan Holmes, “ALEC-Based Restrictions on City-Run Internet at Risk After FCC Ruling,” the Center for
A 2019 BuzzFeed investigation found that prior to
the FCC’s 2017 vote, a cable-industry trade group —
Broadband for America — hired two shady digital-services
firms that filed millions of fraudulent anti-Net Neutrality
comments with the agency on behalf of members like
AT&T and Comcast.15
Public Integrity, updated April 30, 2015: https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/alecbased-restrictions-on-city-run-internet-at-risk-after-fcc-ruling/; Frank Bass, “How the Wireless Industry
and Conservative Dark Money Groups Teamed Up to Fight Net Neutrality,” Fast Company,
Dec. 18, 2018: https://www.fastcompany.com/90283913/how-the-wireless-industry-and-conservativedark-money-groups-teamed-up-to-fight-net-neutrality; Andrew Prokop, “How ALEC Helps Conservatives
and Businesses Turn State Election Wins Into New Laws,” Vox, March 27, 2015: https://www.vox.
com/2014/11/17/7186057/american-legislative-exchange-council
11. “Centering Low-Income People and Communities of Color in the Fight for Digital Civil Rights,” Voices
for Internet Freedom, accessed on Sept. 1, 2020:, https://www.freepress.net/sites/default/files/2019-01/
Voices%20Booklet%20FINAL.pdf
This is one of countless examples showing that the
corporations controlling our nation’s media and internet
will stop at nothing to pad their profits — including
engaging in willful misinformation that harms Black
people and other historically marginalized communities.
12. Patrisse Cullors, “Black Lives Depend on a Free and Open Internet,” The Hill, Dec. 31, 2014:
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/civil-rights/228063-black-lives-depend-on-a-free-and-openinternet
13. Cecilia Kang, “F.C.C. Repeals Net Neutrality Rules,” The New York Times, Dec. 14, 2017: https://www.
nytimes.com/2017/12/14/technology/net-neutrality-repeal-vote.html
14. Ibid
15. Jeremy Singer Vine and Kevin Collier, “Political Operatives Are Faking Voter Outrage With Millions
Of Made-Up Comments to Benefit the Rich And Powerful,” BuzzFeed, Oct. 3, 2019: https://www.
buzzfeednews.com/article/jsvine/net-neutrality-fcc-fake-comments-impersonation; Heather Franklin,
“5 Biggest Takeaways from the FCC Docketgate Revelations,” Free Press, Oct. 7, 2019: https://www.
freepress.net/our-response/expert-analysis/explainers/5-biggest-takeaways-fcc-docketgate-revelations
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