COVID-19 socioeconomic disparity. Economically disadvantaged American Children now micro-targeted via digital advertisement
On this subject I have a fair amount of subject expertise. Like first hand knowledge of why Congress approved the e-rate in an effort to level out the public education playing fields. This matters
COVID-19 and Rural and/or socioeconomic disadvantage…
I could write many and I mean many articles about this topic because nearly two decades ago I was one of thousands who worked, lobbied, advocated and assisted in the long overdue public policy. A brief and I mean very brief primer of E-Rate1
E-Rate connect schools & libraries to the internet
The “intent” of the E-rate program was to allow the Federal Government to partially pick up the the expensive cost of internet access via the Universal Services Fund2. This was a program where telecommunications companies decided to address the growing inequities facing rural communities buttressed with the paradox of inner-city children, who also needed affordable and reliable access to the internet.
The commonality —each communities need closely mirrored the other - but rural schools had a last mile and long haul problem. Making internet connectivity almost impossible or at the minimum blowing up their tiny I.T. budgets. Whereas the inner cities simply had too many needs and not enough resources. So how could telecommunications companies “do good” —enter E-Rate. The panacea to fix the exorbitant cost of connectivity. Truly the last mile use to be incredibly expensive.
The approach was to create a “common” pool/bucket of money. Thusly rural and inner-city schools could “apply” for Federal Grants.3 It is important to remember that the genesis of this program was post 1996 Telecommunications Act (pdf found here) -where Congress codified the “break up” of telecommunications monopolies. Again the cost of internet connectivity could be astronomical. Last Mile and long hauls was akin to hearing a cash register ringing, repeatedly.
Full disclosure in my former career I made a lot of money selling UUNET DS45s, P2Ps, ATM & Frame Relay Networks and emergent Cloud networks. My bosses called me their secret weapon aka “send the cute girl in” to close the deal. Not that it matters, at the time I was one of very few female CCIEs. I could whiteboard the ___ out of a WLANs, Self Healing Sonnet Rings, utilize dark fiber and self healing networks ensuring my clients didn’t have to worry about their servers going tango down - I could literally do this in my sleep or blind-folded.
Again in the late 1990’s the cost just to connect to the internet was often entirely cost prohibitive, especially for rural schools and financing for inner city schools & libraries were an after thought. By establishing E-Rate, again the intent was to “level out the playing field” - it was in fact a noble endeavor and one pubic policy I was proud to be a part of. In theory E-Rate was a really great idea and this program was Government at its very best. Until it wasn’t.
COVID-19 disproportionately hitting rural communities and communities of color:
If you followed me on Twitter - you’ll remember I was one of very few people that repeatedly sounded the alarm. Essentially screaming into the abyss about the disproportionate socioeconomic impact COVID-19 would have on our rural communities and our communities of color. The direct impact on students who didn’t have reliable internet connectivity. Or children of single parents who were forced into home schooling their children or go to work to keep a roof over their heads or go work to put food on the table. A decent analogy “no child left behind” but COVID-19 created a disproportionate impact on the aforementioned vulnerable communities.
To be fair, many of our public educators immediately rose to the occasion. Many of these teachers went above and beyond. Emblematic because teaching is one of the very last “Noble” professions. Teachers truly love teaching and they love their students. I am fairly certain Heaven has a very special place for teachers and nurses. Conversely we should confront the uncomfortable reality —no one school system was fully prepared for distance learning and/or hybrid learning. Again many public schools met the unique challenges COVID-19 forced upon them.
And sadly those fears soon became our shared reality. You can still find fragments of my threads/research; here, archive, here, archived, here and let’s not forget about the zoom-bombing found here or here - I tweeted about this, a lot —the point is COVID-19 impact on children, our public education systems and safety of children utilizing distance learning- I firmly believe this crisis will have long lasting impacts. And it is really hard to enumerate just how much the impact of COVID-19 both in terms of our Teachers, School Administrators and of course the students
HOUSE ENERGY MARCH 11th Hearing
Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee
“Kids Online During COVID: Child Safety in an Increasingly Digital Age”
The underlying concern is -the type of advertising being “served up” to our children. Particularly during COVID-19 and distance and/or hybrid learning. As the data suggest, more screen time means more opportunity children are being exposed to content which is inappropriate.
Moreover based on data and research Published by A. Guttmann, Apr 7, 2020 (you might hit a paywall) - Kids advertising spending worldwide 2012-2021 (data sourceSTATISTA)
“…advertising spending amounted to 4.2 billion U.S. dollars worldwide. Expenditure is forecast to reach 4.6 billion U.S. dollars by 2021, out of which an estimated 1.7 billion is projected to stem from digital advertising formats…”
Data Source Statistia published April 2020 -last visited March 9, 2021
In June of 2020 the Federal Trade Commission asked for public comments, concerning proposed rule making colloquially known as: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising4 - among the 110+ public comments Common Sense Kids Action submitted an 11 page comment5 and it is clear their position was, online advertising should be narrowly tailored if the audience is intended to reach children.
In August 2020 the US Census Published this report, which disclosed nearly 93% of ALL American Households with School aged children were utilizing some form of distance learning. The House Energy & Commerce Committee Hearing panel includes the following expert witnesses:
Ariel Fox Johnson -Senior Counsel, Global Policy, Common Sense Media Written Testimony
Nusheen Ameenuddin, M.D., M.P.H., M.P.A., F.A.A.P. Chair Council on Communications and Media American Academy of Pediatrics, written Testimony
Corey A. DeAngelis, Director of School Choice, Reason Foundation Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute Executive Director, Educational Freedom InstituteExecutive Director, written Testimony
Lastly I would recommend that you read: Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), Public Law 105–2776 - COPPA 16 CFR Part 312 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, 15 U.S.C. 6501–6505 and Children's Privacy -in short COPPA’s purpose strictly addresses children and the internet. Large content providers like Google —see September 2019 fractured Twitter thread, found here or here, like I said I previously tweeted a lot about COPPA.
The FTC has both enforcement authority and regulatory authority to not only enforce COPPA but they also have the ability to fine and litigate violators of COPPA into submission. I also tweeted/researched a lot about that topic and the FTC (found here, here, here, here) - unfortunately I won’t be available to real-time write about the March 11th hearing but I provided you with the prerequisite background of what will be discussed in the hearing. -Filey
E-Rate -FCC Universal Services Fund, last visited March 9, 2021 - falls under the FCC specifically the WireLine Competition - https://www.fcc.gov/wireline-competition
Spicey - since you were there (not sure how we haven’t met, I know a couple guys who worked in sales at UUNET) I’m still at a loss at how a government financed and created infrastructure couldn’t find a way to address last mile connectivity. I worked for a guy who was Reed Hunts right hand and worked w/providers on the ramp up and roll out of broadband and I can assure you no one was sparing any expense on “consulting” fees. Why didn’t the government require public use as a priority at the outset instead of allowing it to be an afterthought? Seems like they could have learned something about this from building the electricity grid. Maybe I should just be glad no one put Texas in charge.......oh....wait.....
Near and dear to my own heart. We’re in South Dakota and rural and tribal access are true issues. I remember a conversation long ago with a colleague, can’t remember the specifics except the topic: Do you think the US should have made the internet more like a public utility?
Spicey - since you were there (not sure how we haven’t met, I know a couple guys who worked in sales at UUNET) I’m still at a loss at how a government financed and created infrastructure couldn’t find a way to address last mile connectivity. I worked for a guy who was Reed Hunts right hand and worked w/providers on the ramp up and roll out of broadband and I can assure you no one was sparing any expense on “consulting” fees. Why didn’t the government require public use as a priority at the outset instead of allowing it to be an afterthought? Seems like they could have learned something about this from building the electricity grid. Maybe I should just be glad no one put Texas in charge.......oh....wait.....
Near and dear to my own heart. We’re in South Dakota and rural and tribal access are true issues. I remember a conversation long ago with a colleague, can’t remember the specifics except the topic: Do you think the US should have made the internet more like a public utility?