Internet access has become such a huge part of daily life now that not having access to it is like not having access to public schools. It puts a lot of people, especially the poor in a hugely disadvantageous position. This is why several companies wanted to provide low-income Americans with internet access and they relied on government subsidies for that. Unfortunately, the new FCC under President Donald Trump doesn’t care and is scaling back on the project.
Ajit Pai, the new FCC chairman made several changes upon assuming his post, one of the biggest of which is the cancellation of adding nine companies from the list of network providers that will help give poor Americans access to the internet. This move was billed as a means of fighting fraud in a program that featured a shocking number of scams, Fortune reports, but its effects on low-income communities are going to be significant.
Public Knowledge is one of the organizations that were relying on the program to provide poor households with an internet connection. In a statement, the group stressed that interfering with the subsidies would “likely result in needy families losing access to the critical connectivity they use to communicate with loved ones, look for employment [and] complete homework assignments.”
What makes this case even more notable, however, is the fact that none of the nine companies that were just blocked from entering the program are being suspected of having committed fraud, Ars Technica reports. When a spokesperson for the commission was approached to explain why this is the case, said spokesperson referred the publication to the order and said that it speaks for itself.
It’s worth pointing out that the program is still ongoing and poor communities won’t likely lose the internet access they were provided completely. On that note, it will become much harder for the children of these communities to become competitive in an increasingly digitized world.


Maduro Confirms “Respectful” Call With Trump, Signals Openness to Diplomatic Dialogue
Intel Boosts Malaysia Operations with Additional RM860 Million Investment
California Launches Portal for Reporting Alleged Misconduct by Federal Immigration Agents
U.S.-Russia Talks Leave Ukraine Peace Efforts Uncertain
China Urged to Prioritize Economy Over Territorial Ambitions, Says Taiwan’s President Lai
Trump and Lula Discuss Trade, Sanctions, and Security in “Productive” Phone Call
OpenAI Moves to Acquire Neptune as It Expands AI Training Capabilities
Taiwan Signals Openness to Renew Ties with Honduras as Election Unfolds
ByteDance Unveils New AI Voice Assistant for ZTE Smartphones
Hong Kong Faces Low Turnout in “Patriots-Only” Election Amid Public Grief After Deadly Fire
Cuba Reaffirms Anti-Drug Cooperation as Tensions Rise in the Caribbean
Amazon and Google Launch New Multicloud Networking Service to Boost High-Speed Cloud Connectivity
Quantum Systems Projects Revenue Surge as It Eyes IPO or Private Sale
Australia and Japan Strengthen Defence Cooperation Amid Rising Regional Tensions
Honduras Election Turmoil Deepens as Nasralla Alleges Fraud in Tight Presidential Race
YouTube Agrees to Follow Australia’s New Under-16 Social Media Ban
Trump Administration Tightens H-1B Visa Vetting With New Focus on Free Speech and Censorship




