Net Neutrality Fight Causing New Rifts On the Left

In the wake of reports that the Obama administration may be inching away from a national broadband policy that encompasses strong net neutrality provisions, observers of the ongoing net neutrality debate say that a major rift may be developing between big-name groups on the left.

On one side are public interest groups including the Media Access Project, Free Press, Consumers Union and the New America Foundation. On the other are several high-profile African-American groups including the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women, The National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials and the National Association of Black County Officials.

According to National Journal, the public interest groups wrote to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski last week to express concern regarding recent statements made by an FCC official that were less than enthusiastically favorable toward net neutrality. The groups were evidently seeking Genachowski’s assurance that the FCC was not “pre-judging” the outcome of its rulemaking process with regard to the net neutrality issue.

Meanwhile, the African-American groups are expressing open support for the Broadband Opportunity Coalition, which has raised concerns about the potentially negative impact that net neutrality could have on broadband deployment and adoption. They are also objecting forcefully to tactics taken by some net neutrality advocates, which they consider to cross a line. According to the heads of the groups, some net neutrality advocates have “attacked” civil rights organizations and “sought to impugn the integrity, independence and intelligence of members of the Congressional Black Caucus and leaders of the civil rights community who have made adoption and expanded network capacity their highest priorities.”

The attacks of which the groups complain seem focused on the charge that they serve as “Astroturf” designed to further not the interests of those whom they represent but rather those of the telecoms industry. The groups conversely contend that “Many feel that these [pro-net neutrality] organizations are pushing a regulatory perspective that would regressively shift the costs of bandwidth onto middle- and low-income consumers,” and in their letter describe the net neutrality advocates in question as “elite digital organizations” who “peddle” “destructive racial rhetoric.”

Further underlining the existence of an increasingly nasty rift is that one such organization appears to be Free Press itself. The group, which one anti-net neutrality technology expert with whom Capitol Confidential spoke, described as “actually Marxist,” operates the site Save The Internet. Critics say the site regularly publishes the work of authors closely associated with the claims to which the African-American groups object.