America’s Moral Obligation for Universal Broadband

Too little progress has been made to ensure that high-speed Internet is available to all. As the pandemic has demonstrated, far too many still don't have what they need to function in a virtual world.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of so many Americans confirms a belief many of us held two decades ago: that someday broadband would be as essential to modern life as clean water and electricity. We made this prediction amid some snickering and heckling by academic and government types, but we believed, as I wrote in my book Civil Rights to Cyber Rights, that we had "a moral obligation to see that broadband becomes universally accessible and beneficial to the public."

We envisioned a wired nation where all important social functions would be performed in a virtual town square or from smart homes. Not only has this not happened, but COVID-19 has brought to light just how unprepared we are as a nation to function in this type of online environment despite the United States' head start in the development of the Internet. Now is the time to move forcefully to address this unfulfilled moral obligation.

Our idea of "universally accessible" was not a call for the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to strictly regulate the Internet as it did telephony, but we anticipated that there would come a time when the public might heavily rely on the Internet and citizens without it would be at a distinct disadvantage — economically, educationally and socially. Unfortunately, this time has come, and after six months of making a go at it, far too many still are not prepared to function in a virtual world. An estimated 35 percent of Black households and 29 percent of Hispanic households are still without a broadband connection.

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