FCC to Vote on Rules to Prevent and Eliminate Digital Discrimination

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Rosenworcel is proposing final rules to prevent discrimination in access to broadband services based on income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, and national origin. The rules will be voted on by the full Commission at its November 15 Open Commission Meeting. If adopted, they would establish a balanced framework to facilitate equal access to broadband internet service by preventing digital discrimination. Under these rules, the FCC could protect consumers by:

• Directly addressing companies’ policies and practices if they differentially impact consumers’ access to broadband internet access service or are intended to do so;
• Apply these protections to ensure communities see equitable broadband deployment, network upgrades, and maintenance;
• Investigate possible instances of discrimination of broadband access, work to solve and – when necessary – penalize companies for failing to meet the obligations defined in the rules;
• Review consumer complaints of digital discrimination through an improved consumer complaint portal;
• Help protect both current and prospective subscribers to a broadband internet service.