{"id":37950,"date":"2025-05-09T15:38:57","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T15:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/?p=37950"},"modified":"2025-05-09T15:39:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T15:39:38","slug":"public-knowledge-denounces-unconstitutional-attack-on-americas-right-to-connect-and-communicate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-denounces-unconstitutional-attack-on-americas-right-to-connect-and-communicate\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Knowledge Denounces Unconstitutional Attack on America\u2019s Right To Connect and Communicate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Yesterday, President Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TrumpDailyPosts\/status\/1920586990887538812\">announced on social media<\/a> that he intends to end $2.75 billion in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov\/funding-programs\/digital-equity-act-programs\">Digital Equity Act<\/a>\u201d grant funding \u2013 a blatantly unconstitutional move that would expand the digital divide by jeopardizing the millions of Americans who will rely on this program to connect and communicate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bipartisan \u201cDigital Equity Act\u201d passed as part of an infrastructure bill signed into law by then-President Biden to \u201censure that all people and communities have the skills, technology, and capacity needed to reap the full benefits of our digital economy\u201d by funding programs and activities, including \u201cdigital navigators,\u201d to help people learn how to access and use the internet. Public Knowledge denounces this attack on rural America, veterans, seniors, the disabled, low-income people, and communities of color who benefit from this program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following can be attributed to Alisa Valentin, Broadband Policy Director at Public Knowledge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe \u2018Digital Equity Act,\u2019 a program designed to close the broadband adoption gap that excludes communities from full participation in the digital ecosystem, has been declared unconstitutional by a president who recently reminded the American public how <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/experts-question-trump-claiming-asked-duty-uphold-constitution\/story?id=121473077\">unfamiliar he is with the very constitution<\/a> he cites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s claim that the \u2018Digital Equity Act\u2019 is \u2018racist\u2019 reflects his pattern of inverting the meaning of such terms, labeling efforts to address racial inequity as discriminatory themselves, making clear his administration\u2019s intent to block or claw back initiatives aimed at correcting historical injustices that impact Black communities and other communities of color. The irony is that the weaponization of the word \u2018equity\u2019 will halt progress in closing the digital divide and will also severely impact his voter base of white Americans who live in rural areas in red states, including veterans and the elderly.<br><br>\u201cTo worsen matters, the administration is also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commerce.gov\/news\/press-releases\/2025\/03\/statement-us-secretary-commerce-howard-lutnick-bead-program\">delaying<\/a> yet another part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/house-passage-of-infrastructure-package-moves-to-close-the-digital-divide\/\">2021 bipartisan infrastructure law<\/a>, the \u2018Broadband Equity Access and Deployment\u2019 (BEAD) program, in a way that could hand Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink up to $20 billion dollars despite the company\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/slowing-bead-to-speed-up-satellites\/\">reduced reliability, higher costs to consumers, and general lack of readiness<\/a>. For President Trump and his wealthy cabinet, closing the digital divide doesn\u2019t seem to be worth it \u2013 unless they can cash in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Trump&#8217;s move to end the Digital Equity Act is blatantly unconstitutional.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":37828,"parent":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-37950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-broadband-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Public Knowledge Denounces Unconstitutional Attack on America\u2019s Right To Connect and Communicate - Public Knowledge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. 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