Trump's next funding cut: the Digital Equity Act.
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President Donald Trump — on his own digital platform, Truth Social — announced his intention to end the Digital Equity Act, a federal grant program meant to help bridge the digital divide. He branded it as “RACIST and ILLEGAL” and said it amounts to “woke handouts based on race.”
The Digital Equity Act was intended to fill gaps and cover unmet needs that surfaced during the massive broadband rollout. It gave states and tribes flexibility to deliver high-speed internet access to families that could not afford it, computers to kids who did not have them, telehealth access to older adults in rural areas, and training and job skills to veterans.
More than one-fifth of Americans do not have broadband internet access at home, according to the Pew Research Center. In rural communities, the number jumps to 27 percent.
Beyond giving people access to technology and fast internet, many programs funded by the Digital Equity Act sought to provide “digital navigators” — human helpers to guide people new to the online world.
“In the United States we do not have a consistent source of funding to help individuals get online, understand how to be safe online and how to use that technology to accomplish all the things that are required now as part of life that are online,” said Siefer of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance.
This includes everything from providing families with internet hot spots so they can get online at home to helping seniors avoid online scams.
“Health, workforce, education, jobs, everything, right?” Siefer said. “This law was going to be the start for the U.S. to figure out this issue. It’s a new issue in the big scheme of things, because now technology is no longer a nice-to-have. You have to have the internet and you have to know how to use the technology just to survive, let alone to thrive today.”
Siefer said the word “equity” in the name probably prompted Trump to target the program for elimination.
“But it means that he didn’t actually look at what this program does,” she said. “Because who doesn’t want grandma to be safe online? Who doesn’t want a veteran to be able to talk to their doctor rather than get in a car and drive two hours? Who doesn’t want students to be able to do their homework?”
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https://apnews.com/article/digital-equity-act-trump-broadband-rural-diversity-90d1c8a618d289ecb16e1667194e37d7
So, people in rural areas won't be able to read his tweets on Truth Social any more. Didn't think this through, did you Donald? Someone might yet talk some sense into him, as he hasn't done it yet, but his track record suggests he will.
@moonbus saidHe never read it. But it has the word "equity" in it. So it must be bad.
Trump's next funding cut: the Digital Equity Act.
quote
President Donald Trump — on his own digital platform, Truth Social — announced his intention to end the Digital Equity Act, a federal grant program meant to help bridge the digital divide. He branded it as “RACIST and ILLEGAL” and said it amounts to “woke handouts based on race.”
The Digital Equity Act was intende ...[text shortened]... might yet talk some sense into him, as he hasn't done it yet, but his track record suggests he will.
This is what we've been saying. How much does Trump have to hurt the poor, white, Southern, Republican families before they finally wake up and say "wut?"
@Suzianne saidI dunno, but if Germany in the 1940s is anything to go by, they suffered every major city being reduced to ash and rubble because their Fearful Leader told them it was a noble sacrifice for the supremacy of the master race. It could get a whole lot worse before Trump supporters admit they've been duped.
How much does Trump have to hurt the poor, white, Southern, Republican families before they finally wake up and say "wut?"
“Most people would rather die than think, and many of them do!”
― Bertrand Russell, The ABC of Relativity
You all don't seem concerned for bottom-up, grassroots politics, yet you may give a shoulder brush. The latest here coincides another Rural Broadband Assistance Act bill's introduction, and looks intended to target local government operation rather than top-down, centralized programs.
That may be for the best or you end up in a military command loop: pushing everyone to have the newest tech systems in a monopoly. Efficiency is beautiful.