{"id":38146,"date":"2021-07-28T13:16:14","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T20:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=38146"},"modified":"2021-07-28T13:16:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T20:16:14","slug":"lessons-of-the-pandemic-demanding-equal-access-to-the-internet-as-a-human-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=38146","title":{"rendered":"LESSONS OF THE PANDEMIC \u2013 DEMANDING EQUAL ACCESS TO THE INTERNET AS A HUMAN RIGHT"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by\u00a0Mark Hedin<\/a><\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Jul 28, 2021<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0Other<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Clockwise from top left: Angela Siefer, Executive Director, National Digital Inclusion Alliance; Sunne Wright McPeak, President and CEO, California Emerging Technology Fund; \u00c9rica Del Torro, Parent University Program, Cal State University Fresno; Michelle Flores, Tutor, Southeast Community Development Corporation<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By Mark Hedin, Ethnic Media Services<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Internet has become so central to modern life that access to it is a necessity. Broadband access is an integral part of infrastructure negotiations and in the United Nations, that access is considered a human right.<\/p>\n

At a panel convened by Ethnic Media Services on July 23, representatives of national and California nonprofits, joined by an elementary school tutor and an adult education leader, discussed efforts to create equitable, reliable Internet access for all and why doing so is important.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The pandemic) drew attention to the issue \u2026 when there were news stories showing kids doing their homework in a Taco Bell parking lot, how does that not break anyone\u2019s heart?\u201d Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance\u00a0 (NDIA), asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no longer any question as to whether broadband is infrastructure,\u201d she said, but \u201cIt\u2019s also about work, it\u2019s also about health, it\u2019s about connecting to your families, it\u2019s about everything. Survive today without it? No.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nationwide, \u201c36 million U.S. households do not have an Internet connection \u2013 a wire line \u2013 cable, DSL or fiber in their homes,\u201d Siefer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still encounter individuals who think the problem is about rural availability,\u201d Siefer added. \u201cTwenty-six million are urban, 10 million are rural. All of these households are important, but the bigger number piece of this is urban.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also a significant problem about affordability and having the support to learn digital skills to be able to make full use of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe digital divide is literally just another manifestation of the economic divide, of the opportunity divide, and that is rooted in systemic racism,\u201d said Sunne McPeak, president and CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF).<\/p>\n

CETF was formed in 2005 to address the digital divide in the state as part of the negotiations that allowed SBC to buy AT&T and Verizon to buy MCI. In its most recent survey, McPeak said, \u201cWe have about 91% of Californians connected at home \u2013 a very good number.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we also have, within that, 6% who are connected by a smartphone only, which is truly an under-connected household.\u00a0So between the 9% without any access, and the 6% using only a phone, 15% are underserved.\u201d<\/p>\n