Free Press report: racial gaps in Internet adoption persist

Communities of color are being left behind the digital curve. A race-based Internet adoption gap persists, even after accounting for differences in income and other demographic factors,  according to a detailed new report from Free Press, a digital and media rights organization.

Across annual income levels, people of color adopt home Internet service at lower rates. The gap is widest among the poorest communities, those making less than $20,000 per year: while 58 percent of whites in that group have Internet at home, only 51 percent of Hispanics and 50 percent of Blacks do.

“If income were the only determining factor, we would expect to see higher adoption levels for people of color,” the report read. “Based on average incomes, we should expect 69 percent of Hispanic households and 68 percent of Black households to have home internet, but the actual adoption levels for these populations are 66 percent and 62 percent respectively.”

Racial gaps in Internet use extend to the workplace, the report finds. For example, while 68 percent of people who reported working in “office and administrative support occupations” said they use the Internet at work, only 55 percent of Hispanics and 56 percent of Blacks in the same category did.

“Education disparities and hiring discrimination likely play a role here, but the data reveals disparities between White people and Hispanic and Black people even when they work in similar occupations, the report read. “This raises the specter of racial discrimination not only in hiring practices but also in the assignment of tasks and provision of opportunities to use the internet at work.”

Read the full report here.

Link:

Digital Denied: The Impact of Systemic Racial Discrimination on Home-Internet Adoption (Free Press, Dec. 2016)