Policies to close digital divide must pass ‘kitchen table test,’ nonprofits say
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By
Chris Teale
Several groups said communities that lack connectivity must be the ones to shape policies to benefit them, and they urged the federal government to step up with money and training.
A collection of nonprofits said in a report released last week that policies to close the digital divide and promote digital equity must pass the “kitchen table test” and place communities at the heart of decision making.
Public Knowledge, UnidosUS and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance said while broadband access is a “foundational prerequisite for participation in modern-day life,” policies in the past to get more people online have prioritized concentrated wealth over community needs. And that has meant that “false narratives” rooted in scarcity have taken resources away from those who need them most, the report says.
Instead, the group of nonprofits said in their report entitled, “The Blueprint for Equitable Digital Participation,” that policies must meet disadvantaged communities where they are and strengthen grassroots solutions. That could include putting digital resources at frequently visited community hubs or integrating training and digital skills programs in places that already offer community service.
At a more macro level, the paper calls for urgent reform to the Universal Service Fund to provide a broadband affordability benefit of $40 or more to reflect growing market costs. And it called on the federal government more broadly to provide sustained investment in digital skills, device access and training.
“The fight for a more connected future must reflect the experiences of people broadband policy is supposed to serve, who are part of this complex digital divide continuum,” Alisa Valentin, broadband policy director at Public Knowledge, wrote in a blog post to accompany the report’s release.
The groups spent multiple years working on this report, and heard from seven focus groups about their issues with internet access and use and suggestions for policies to help alleviate those issues. In Valentin’s blog post, she said that one consumer in Albuquerque, New Mexico compared their broadband experience to “a hyena” because it is “poor quality that doesn’t offer the plans my family needs.” Meanwhile, a father in Atlanta said he is faced with a choice to “either put food on the table for six people or have the internet.”
In a bid to solve those connectivity and digital equity problems, focus groups suggested various solutions rooted in their communities. Those suggestions included having subsidies to help defray costs and make internet subscriptions more affordable, as well as having more community-based internet service providers beyond the existing corporate ISPs. Discounts on connected devices that are contingent on completing training courses were also suggested.
“This project makes clear that when policies are driven by false narratives about scarcity, politics of ‘deservingness,’ profit over people, or the prioritization of industry profits over the public interest, then the digital divide persists and is deliberately reinforced,” Valentin said in a separate statement. “Without policy interventions that meaningfully address affordability, reliable service, digital skills support, and device access, equitable internet access remains an empty promise that will leave the growing number of economically vulnerable people behind everywhere from major metropolitan cities of Denver to the hills of rural Appalachia.”
In addition to those local policies, the report calls for more federal involvement, including by reforming the USF so it can provide a robust subsidy via the Lifeline program it funds for the Federal Communications Commission. Having a minimum subsidy of $40 a month would help low-income communities, the report argues, and take into account rising costs.
The groups also said the federal government must take a stronger role in digital equity, something it has appeared to pull back on in recent months after the ending of digital equity grants. Still up for discussion is the future of around $21 billion in funds from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, and the report said federal agencies should consider its use for this purpose.
“The digital divide is fundamentally about power and resource distribution,” the report says. “Closing it requires not just building infrastructure but ensuring people can actually benefit from networks through comprehensive adoption support, community ownership models, and policy frameworks that prioritize human dignity over corporate profits. The communities most affected by digital exclusion possess the wisdom to drive solutions — they just need the resources and power to implement them.”