President Obama and Title II advocates often cite concerns over free speech and income inequality when pushing for heavy-handed government regulation of the Internet. And the Left often takes for granted that minority constituencies will simply toe the line on partisan battles in Washington.
So it’s no surprise that Jesse Jackson, the NAACP, and the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council (MMTC) came under fire from the Tech Left for opposing Title II. The backlash prompted Jesse Jackson to call for civility in the net neutrality debate. “We can disagree without dehumanizing others and sending mainstream media mobs to launch targeted smear campaigns on organizations and their leaders,” he said.
Despite the outcry from the Left, no one should be surprised that civil rights leaders oppose Title II. As TechFreedom President Berin Szoka explained in The Washington Post:
Jackson “was unequivocal in voicing his opposition to Title II because of its effects on investment in broadband and because of the ultimate impact on minority communities and job creation,” said Berin Szoka.
Civil rights groups opposed to Title II understand that private investment in broadband is the best way to bridge the Digital Divide. The restrained approach to Internet regulation — championed by the FCC’s first two African American chairmen — has unleashed over $1 trillion in investment since 1996.
As Jackson points out, “We got a lot of poor folks who don’t have broadband.” A morass of government regulation would only make the problem much worse.