What the NSA’s Spying Has to Do With Racial Justice

A federal lawsuit from Verizon could overturn the FCC's hard fought open Internet regulations.

By Jamilah King Sep 13, 2013

If you’re reading this, chances are you probably didn’t have too tough of a time logging onto the Internet. But if Verizon has its way with a federal lawsuit aimed at overturning the FCC’s 2010 open Internet regulations, that could change, and companies could be allowed to create fast and slow lanes in an effort to boost profits. 

Over at New America Media, Malkia Cyril, who’s the executive director at the Center for Media Justice, and Joseph Torres, who works as a senior external affairs director at Free Press, wrote an op-ed that links the broader fight for fairness in telecommunications with the fight for racial justice.

The FBI’s counterintelligence program, created in the 1950s, often wiretapped phones to discredit the civil rights and black power movements. And these strategies aren’t relics of the past: After the Sept. 11 attacks, the New York City Police Department created a secret surveillance program that targets the local Muslim community.

Our government’s decision to work closely with ISPs to spy on U.S. residents is troubling, and underscores the need for rules that protect free speech online. 

If Verizon wins in court, one has to wonder how hard the government will fight to protect free speech online, given that the same companies lobbying to gut open Internet protections are essential to our nation’s domestic spying apparatus. 

For more, visit Voices for Internet Freedom.