Media Alliance, in partnership with Great Public Schools New and with legal representation by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR) has been granted intervenor status in the 8th Circuit of the Court of Appeals to protect the FCC’s new digital discrimination rules.

The DD rules are a historic first that define the discriminatory provision of digital services (including broadband) as practices that result in disparities, whether or not the “intention” to discriminate can be proven.

This is a huge advance in digital rights law, as it is perniciously hard to prove intent, even when outcomes of certain practices are clearly discriminatory.

Media Alliance, and our attorneys with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights were in federal court on September 25th. You can find a link to the oral arguments here.

MA director Tracy Rosenberg made this statement:

Tracy Rosenberg, executive director, Media Alliance, one of the intervenors, said, “For far too long, where broadband is and how much it costs have echoed historical patterns of discrimination in this country. If we don’t act to end these inequities, regardless of the reasons for their existence, we risk losing a generation to tech redlining. The stakes are high and the FCC recognized this with their historic digital discrimination rulemaking which focused on impact and outcomes, not intentions. Broadband access is essential for full engagement in education, the workforce and democracy. We must end the excuses and deliver broadband for all now. “

Our petition will allow us to file briefs and robustly participate in legal challenges to these critical rules. It is great news that intervenor status has been granted!

Below is our petition, initial brief and the FCC’s rulemaking document