I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
ACLU
u/aclu
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
Check out this blog post we wrote with Brandeis Marshall: https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/how-broadband-access-hinders-systemic-equality-and-deepens-the-digital-divide/.
The expenses are for a family located in Washington, DC.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
Sure. The ACLU has a team of litigators who use the courts to advance civil rights and liberties issues - so in a case like net neutrality, we might join a lawsuit defending the rights of states to pass their own net neutrality laws. We also have a team of policy, campaigning, and organizing experts who work on passing laws and regulations that protect and expand civil rights and liberties, so in the net neutrality context, we would be advocating for state an federal net neutrality laws and gubernatorial executive orders. These teams at our national offices are mirrored by similar teams in our affiliate offices in all 50 states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico. Our national and some affiliate offices employ technologists who help ACLU folks, judges, and policymakers better understand the technologies that are at the center of our legal and advocacy efforts. We have analytics teams that help us with original research and analysis to back our work with hard, reliable data to support our positions. We have communications teams, who help spread our pro-civil rights and liberties messages and work to the world (like through this AMA - thanks comms folks!). Finally, and most importantly, we have members and supporters who more than ever engage in direct advocacy in support of our work, and boy do those numbers matter in moving public and political opinion. So thanks so very much to all of you!!! - Chad
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
This blog gives some more examples.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
Thank you for your time! Do you think the current administration will get us up to speed (pardon the pun) and bring down prices? What are infrastructure timeline goals?
Thanks for your question! The Administration is working to "get us up to speed" and bring down prices. President Biden announced that within the American Jobs Plan, there will be $100 billion dollars for access to broadband.
That's a big deal because that is the amount we believe is needed to ensure that broadband access can be deployed to every household in the country.
But that's not enough. The biggest barrier to accessing broadband is actually affordability. In a family of four with expenses of around $6500 a month and an average income $2000 less than expenses, people just can't afford it.
Programs like the Emergency Broadband Benefit, which gives low income families and those impacted by the economic crisis caused by the pandemic a $50 subsidy to purchase broadband, are giving people relieve and help in the short term. But we need a permanent affordability solution that will help families get connected and stay connected regardless of their income level or any other factor, like whether they choose to have children. We are working to make sure that a permanent solution is part of upcoming legislative efforts, which we hope to see before the end of this year.
- Kate
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
The good news there is that a pro-net neutrality acting FCC chair was appointed and we now have an FCC vacancy which, when filled with a pro-net neutrality commissioner, will give us a 3-2 FCC vote spilt IN FAVOR of restoring net neutrality.
NOW, if only the President would fill the vacancy (cue sound of crickets chirping). - Chad
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
They are both threats. - Chad
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
Is there anyone attempting to get free and equal access to the Internet regulated as an essential utility like water or electricity?
Thanks for this! Yes. Lots of folks are looking into this including us. If the FCC reclassifies broadband as a telecommunications service - which it absolutely must do to restore net neutrality - that will also give the FCC the authority to regulate broadband as a public utility - just like telephone service. They could even do rate regulation. At a minimum they could strengthen their existing programs - like Lifeline - that help people afford broadband.
It's unclear whether the FCC will consider doing full rate regulation of broadband. But we think the FCC should look at all of its options to ensure broadband access is open AND affordable for all. - Kate
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
Excellent question. While I do not know if that is true (from personal experience, it sure feels like it!), the answer is *yes*, under net neutrality, ISPs cannot provide faster or slower internet speeds to websites based on their content, so that would prohibit providing faster web speeds to websites that measure internet connection speeds. - Chad
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
Here's the good news on restoring net neutrality now that Pai and Trump are gone: we have the President we need to appoint the FCC we need to restore net neutrality. The process may take more than a year from start to finish, but we have a path to get there. Here's the bad news: Biden has had the ability to nominate the tie breaking FCC commissioner for months and he hasn't done so. That's a weird lack of action from a President who is supposed to care about intellectual freedom and oppose corporate censorship. Until Biden acts, we need to keep questioning his motives for not doing so. - Chad
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
There have been challenges to the last repeal based on fraud in the process (the ISPs generated 8.5 million fake comments to the FCC in favor of repeal). You can read about that here. In truth, I think getting the FCC to restore net neutrality provides a far better approach at this point, if only the President would prioritize the issue. - Chad
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
Thanks for this question. Unfortunately, at this point, the available subsidy programs like the Emergency Broadband Benefit, will not fund infrastructure build out to my knowledge.
But hope is not lost! Immediately, you could look into building your own network.
We realize that's not ideal and takes a lot of work, though. That's why we're fighting in Congress to enact the Accessible, Affordable, Internet for all Act which would ensure sufficient investment in future proof broadband networks that would extend to every household. You can advocate for that bill too by going to this link: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/broadband-access-all-now
Or contacting your Congressmembers!
- Kate
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
Great questions. For your consequences question, see my answer above. The best way to help out the ACLU in our efforts to restore net neutrality right now would be to tweet at President Biden and the acting FCC chair, asking them to prioritize restoring net neutrality. The first move is President Biden's, who must appoint a new FCC commissioner to fill a vacancy that will give us the 3-2 vote we need to start to restore net neutrality (what is he waiting for?!?!). This blog has more information and the Twitter handles of our targets. If we get enough pressure from people like you, WE WILL WIN! - Chad
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
Follow-up question, while this AMA centers around Net Neutrality, is the ACLU working towards other issues in tech affecting our civil liberties? Particularly algorithmic issues of bias in AI and privacy concerns behind commercial data-mining being sold to law enforcement without a warrant?
Yes! We are. We firmly believe that we need strong consumer privacy protections at the federal level and that civil rights protections MUST be a part of any new federal law. https://www.aclufl.org/en/news/senators-reveal-their-plans-protect-consumer-privacy-online
We are also pushing the FTC and other federal agencies to use their existing authority to combat bias in algorithmic decisionmaking systems that have an impact on access to economic and other opportunities. And our colleagues in the legal department led this groundbreaking litigation against Facebook: https://www.aclu.org/blog/womens-rights/womens-rights-workplace/facebook-settles-civil-rights-cases-making-sweeping. We are continuing to build on that work in many ways.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We are the ACLU. Ask us anything about expanding broadband and restoring net neutrality // our right to a free, open, and accessible internet // how to ensure our internet is free, open, and accessible to all.
Thanks for your question. We always expected that the ISP companies would be subtle about their throttling (slowing down) and blocking of websites, so they would not provoke a massive backlash (we predicted that correctly here). That being said, we have caught them from time to time slowing down internet access, as Verizon did with firefighters in the middle of a California wildfire. In the end, when you notice your internet is running slow, it is hard to know if you have a bad connection, or if ISP companies are at work. That is the challenge. The best way to proceed is to prohibit those bad practices altogether. - Chad
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
Nonprofit
Since the FCC under Trump eliminated net neutrality in 2017, our previously free and open internet is now subject to corporate censorship. And millions of people already could not access broadband to begin with because it remains unaffordable and inaccessible to many communities, especially communities of color and those in rural or low-income areas.
Equitable access to a free and open internet depends on what we do right now. The ACLU is on President Biden to nominate a new FCC chair who will restore net neutrality protections and ensure broadband access for all. We’re also pressing Congress to the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act to bolster broadband efforts.
Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel and Kate Ruane, senior legislative counsel are here to break down why net neutrality and broadband are urgent priorities and how to fight for our right to a free, open, and accessible internet.
Questions? We’ll be here at 1pm ET on Friday, May 21 with answers.
Ask us anything!
Proof: /
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus strain (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in the city of Wuhan, China. This subreddit seeks to monitor the spread of the disease COVID-19, declared a pandemic by the WHO. This subreddit is for high-quality posts and discussion. Please be civil and empathetic.
AMA (over)
5:11pm ET update: That's a wrap from us! Thanks for your questions.
You may have heard of recently announced contact tracing efforts, including a joint by Apple and Google, that would use Bluetooth technology to help alert people who have been in close proximity to someone testing positive for COVID-19.
We just released a new outlining a set of technology principles against which developers, policymakers, and the public can judge any contract tracing apps and protocols.
Questions? We'll be here at 3pm ET with answers.
I’m Daniel Kahn Gillmor, , a staff technologist at the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. I work at the intersection of civil rights, civil liberties, and information technology. I work with lawyers and activists to help them make technically-relevant and feasible arguments and proposals for positive social change. And I work with engineers and designers to help them make technical decisions that protect civil rights and civil liberties by design. I'm a free software developer, a contributor to the Debian operating system, and a participant in standards bodies like the IETF. I have been active in discussions around tech-assisted contact tracing to help mitigate COVID-19, including the PACT group at MIT and the European initiative DP3T.
And I’m Jon Callas, , a senior technology fellow with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. I work on issues surrounding encryption, forensics, machine learning, and surveillance with the lawyers and activists here. I also work on security and privacy standards to make sure they support civil liberties. In my past I was a co-founder of PGP, Silent Circle, and Blackphone. I've also worked at Apple on security audits and encryption. Apropos of this AMA, I have been working with groups doing proximity-based contact tracing to fight COVID-19 and was a contributor to the MIT PACT spec.
Privacy in the digital age (this is not a SECURITY subreddit, and PUBLIC data, closed source, etc is off-topic)
A good talking point to start with is the racist history of felony disenfranchisement. We recently broke this down here: https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/1125800633112645635
That’s a wrap! Thanks for your questions. We’ll see you and all of the candidates on the campaign trail.
The ACLU has been fighting for civil rights and liberties for nearly 100 years. For the first time, we’re directly engaging presidential candidates during the 2020 primaries: Our volunteers are fanning out nationwide to get candidates on the record about voting rights, immigrants’ rights, abortion access, and a nationwide strategy to end mass incarceration.
When our volunteer got Bernie Sanders on the record to support restoring voting rights to people who are currently incarcerated, it sparked an important national dialogue, and we got flooded with questions.
For at least the next hour, you can ask our experts on voting rights and criminal justice reform anything you want. We’re here to talk to you about the discriminatory history of felony disenfranchisement laws, how our mass incarceration crisis exacerbates this problem, how states are already letting people in prison and jail vote, and most importantly — why our next president must support the right to vote, even while incarcerated. Ask us anything!
Participants: Bobby Hoffman, Advocacy and Policy Counsel, Janos Marton, Smart Justice State Campaigns Manager, Barron Jones, Smart Justice Coordinator for the ACLU of New Mexico,
Proof:
Welcome to TwoXChromosomes, a subreddit for both serious and silly content, and intended for women's perspectives. We are a welcoming subreddit and support the rights of all genders. Posts are moderated for respect, equanimity, grace, and relevance.
ETA: That’s a wrap! Thanks so much to all for your questions, and for your interest in how to assure pregnant, breastfeeding, and parenting workers are protected on the job.
To keep up-to-date on the ACLU’s work in this (and other!) area, subscribe to receive regular updates at .
Please also follow all of us on Twitter @ACLU, where we regularly post about these issues, including our litigation challenging unfair employer practices.
(And keep an eye out for “On the Basis of Sex,” the feature film out this Christmas that chronicles the groundbreaking work of now-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she was co-director of the Women’s Rights Project! Watch the trailer here: .)
Established in 1972 under the direction of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the ACLU uses litigation, state and federal advocacy, and public education to secure gender equality and ensure that all women and girls are able to lead lives of dignity, free from violence and discrimination.
Answering your questions today will be Lenora Lapidus , the director of the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, Galen Sherwin, - - a Senior Staff Attorney at the Women’s Rights Project, and Senior Staff Attorney Gillian Thomas - .
Proof:
Thanks for joining us! We look forward to answering your questions about discrimination against pregnant and breastfeeding workers. We won't be able to give any legal advice, but you can send those requests to us through our intake form here: . You can also contact the National Employment Lawyers Association to find a lawyer in your state: NELA's “Find a Lawyer Directory” is at . Thanks!
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We’re the ACLU. Ask us anything about 2018 Ballot Initiatives to Expand Voting Rights
That's a wrap for us! Thank you for your questions.
We are engaging in ballot initiatives across the country to expand and protect civil rights and liberties — especially voting rights. We have the opportunity to expand voting rights for millions of people in Florida, Nevada, and Michigan. But we need your help.
We need you help to call as many voters as possible through Election Day in key states so that civil rights win on November 6th! Sign up to host a phonebank, attend a phonebank, or call on your own (even in your pajamas). We'll provide you with everything you need, you just need a phone and a computer or tablet. Let’s do this.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal.
We’re the ACLU. Ask us anything about 2018 Ballot Initiatives to Expand Voting Rights
We were in court over this TODAY: We're suing Secretary of State Brian Kemp and all county registrars over their signature-match law that has left voters with pending absentee ballots because of discrepancies in their signature. Signatures might vary because of age, disability, medication, stress, and countless other reasons.
And that's not all. Some Georgia voters are also being purged from the rolls because they didn't participate in previous election cycles — but voting shouldn't be a 'use it or lose it' right.
If you are a Georgia voter whose registration application is deemed 'pending', here's what you need to know: You can STILL cast a regular ballot if you provide photo identification at the polls. If you encounter trouble, the ACLU of Georgia wants to know.