All posts by Midnightschildren

Facebook Users Union Launches #FIREZUCK Campaign: OCTOBER 17 Protest

Update: On October 17, Facebook Users Union members rolled a car caravan through Palo Alto demanding Zuckerberg step down from Facebook. Read the press coverage:

KTVU: Protesters demand CEO Mark Zuckerberg leave Facebook

KCBS: Protesters call for Mark Zuckerberg’s resignation

KRON: Facebook Users Union plans to protest Mark Zuckerberg

Palo Alto Weekly: ‘Get the Zuck out’: Protesters call for Mark Zuckerberg’s removal as Facebook CEO

KPFA: Flashpoints: Facebook Users Union Launches #FireZuck Campaign

The Patch: Protest Held at Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Home

Between The Lines:Facebook Whistleblower’s Explosive testimony Provokes Calls for Regulation

Indybay: Get the Zuck OUT video (50 seconds)

San Francisco-Last night, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told 60 Minutes that Facebook is misleading the public about lies, hate and disinformation on its platform. We wish we were surprised. Time and time again, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has put Facebook’s profits ahead of truth, safety, health and democracy.

That’s why today the Facebook Users Union launched a #FireZuck campaign telling Facebook that it’s time for Mark Zuckerberg to go. They launched petitions on several platforms and are calling for a protest outside of Mark Zuckerberg’s house in Palo Alto on October 17.

Continue reading Facebook Users Union Launches #FIREZUCK Campaign: OCTOBER 17 Protest

Internet Choice for the Entire United States

Local work to pass Internet Choice ordinances (in San Francisco in 2016 and in Oakland in 2021) have culminated in a new proposed FCC order (for the whole country!) to prohibit exclusive marketing agreements between property owners/managers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that limit or restrict choices for people residing in apartments.

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel statement

Bloomberg coverage

Daily Dot coverage

——————————————

A coalition of Internet freedom groups, economic justice organizations and alternative ISP’s is working together to spread Internet Choice legislation beyond San Francisco.

Media Alliance is an anchor for the Oakland Internet Choice Coalition which includes the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Greenlining Institute, The Utility Reform Network, Color of Change, MediaJustice, Oakland Tenants Union and alternative ISPs MonkeyBrains, Sonic, Paxio and People’s Open Internet.

Continue reading Internet Choice for the Entire United States

California Could Vastly Expand Affordable Broadband — If The Legislature Acts Now

by Chris Witteman and Tracy Rosenberg. Originally published at 48 Hills.

Fourteen months of COVID quarantine made one thing clear: we need our broadband. 

It used to be only media activists who insisted that Internet access was an essential service; now it’s accepted wisdom. 

Unfortunately, the last year has also made clear that the current system is broken. Pictures of kids doing homework in parking lots because they have no broadband at home highlight the problem: The market has failed to deliver adequate broadband because there is no market. 

High-speed broadband in most areas is available only from the monopoly cable company, occasionally from the duopoly phone company.  It’s overpricedunreliable, and – even based on the carriers’ overstated reporting — simply not available to millions of Californians – certainly not at the bandwidth needed for today’s applications. 

People know this is so, despite industry propaganda to the contrary.  

Californians need fast, modern Internet. Gov Newsom has responded with a budget that allots $7 billion — from a mix of state surplus dollars and federal rescue money – to actually build public broadband infrastructure rather than just talk about it or continue to throw money at the incumbents.   

Continue reading California Could Vastly Expand Affordable Broadband — If The Legislature Acts Now

Low Power Radio Power Increase: FCC Considering LP 250

After many years of advocacy, the U.S. Low Power Radio community may be getting what it wants. The Federal Communications Commission has announced that they are considering a proposal to broadly authorize a power increase for many low power radio stations from 100 watts to 250 watts.

So-called “simple LP250”, which would make the increased wattage available with a minimum of exclusionary conditions, would provide the mini-radio stations with increased reach and increased legitimacy.

Two-thirds of existing low power radio stations are outside the top 100 media markets and offer local news, information and culture in areas with relatively little media diversity.

Continue reading Low Power Radio Power Increase: FCC Considering LP 250

Senate Bill Aims to Protect Americans From Utility Shutoffs, Mounting Debt Crisis

For Immediate Release, May 20, 2021

Contact:Jean Su, Center for Biological Diversity, (415) 770-3187, jsu@biologicaldiversity.org
Dana Floberg, Free Press Action, (202) 265-1490, dfloberg@freepress.net
Taylor Billings, Corporate Accountability, (504) 621-6487, tbillings@corporateaccountability.org
Rianna Eckel, Food & Water Watch, (978) 835-6230, reckel@fwwatch.org

Senate Bill Aims to Protect Americans From Utility Shutoffs, Mounting Debt Crisis

WASHINGTON— Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced a bill today that would place a national moratorium on the disconnection of electric, water and broadband utility service due to uncollected payments. An increasing number of people in the country are at risk of losing access to vital utilities, including electricity, water and broadband, as utility debt increases nationwide.

The Maintaining Access to Essential Services Act would provide low-interest loans to electric, water and broadband utilities to cover the cost of uncollected household payments in exchange for a moratorium on shutoffs.

Continue reading Senate Bill Aims to Protect Americans From Utility Shutoffs, Mounting Debt Crisis