FAIR AND OPEN ACCESS TO INTERNET IS CRUCIAL TO FREE SPEECH

FAIR AND OPEN ACCESS TO INTERNET IS CRUCIAL TO FREE SPEECH

By Rafael Olmeda, President, National Association of Hispanic Journalists and

Bryan Monroe, President, National Association of Black Journalists

Hispanic Link News Service

As presidents of associations representing thousands of journalists across the United States, we are concerned about issues threatening the First Amendment as well as attacks against a free and open press.

We are troubled by efforts to control the flow of content over the Internet - to deny the public's ability to receive news and information from a diversity of viewpoints by throttling back the speed of certain Web sites while accelerating others. Such an effort is currently taking place in Congress in the fight for the future of the Internet.

The Internet has revolutionized our society. It has empowered citizens by allowing them to speak without a filter. As the number of citizens and residents with broadband access increases, so has their participation in providing news and information on a myriad of issues they are passionate about.

This has increased the diversity of voices the public receives and has strengthened our democracy.

The Internet is a great equalizer, providing an opportunity for the average citizen or small business, including media companies owned by blacks, Hispanics and other persons of color, to compete in the marketplace of ideas.

But several telecom companies and members of Congress are trying to compromise the First Amendment rights of citizens and residents by installing gatekeepers on the Internet. In pending legislation, they propose to cement into law a recent, misguided regulatory decision to scrap the guiding principle maintaining Internet access and fairness since its inception. This guiding principle is known as "Network Neutrality."

When consumers surf the Web, they can access any Web site at equal speeds. This means there is no difference how fast someone can access the Web site of Comcast or of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Telecom companies cannot discriminate against the data passing through their wires - or, in other words -- the speed at which the public can access the Web sites of their choice. It is a level ...