FCC's Levin: Broadband can help minority communities

In front of an audience of social justice advocates, the FCC's Blair Levin declared that "broadband can help people get access to better jobs, better education, better health care information and improved government services" - and it can broaden equality overall.

Levin, the Executive Director of the FCC's Omnibus Broadband Initiative - also known as the "National Broadband Plan" - made the remarks at the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council's Broadband and Social Justice Summit. "We must ensure that there are no digital second class citizens," Levin told the attendees.

So why does the digital divide endure? Levin pointed to cost as one issue, but he focused on social factors as a barrier to adoption. Unlike TV, the Internet is a two-way street, so its value is "meaningless unless communities adopt together." "Emailing yourself isn't as much fun as emailing your friends," Levin joked by way of example, "Skyping yourself is downright depressing." We cannot simply expect adoption to spring up by itself in communities where it is not currently the norm, he said.

America needs to be "wired for social justice" by making sure minority, rural, and poor communities are included in the advances of Internet technology. "In short, connectivity to devices is just not enough," Levin said.

The summit was hosted by the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC), which seeks to preserve civil rights and equal opportunity in the media and telecom industries.

Levin's speech was an affirmation that policies to shrink the Digital Divide are being strongly considered by those developing the National Broadband Plan, which the FCC will present to Congress in March.

"Wired for Social Justice" (FCC)

Broadband and Social Justice Summit Underway in Washington, D.C. (Connected Nation)