Los Angeles Could Become First US City To End ‘Digital Discrimination’

Data show some low-income residents in Los Angeles are paying more than their wealthier neighbors for slower internet service — but no law prevents service providers from offering higher rates in one community over another.

"The ideal would be that all families in Los Angeles get access to affordable, if not free, high-speed internet," said Elmer Roldan, executive director of Communities in Schools Los Angeles. The group is part of a coalition called Digital Equity Los Angeles (DELA) that's pushing the city to legally define and address "digital discrimination."

Roldan and other DELA members spoke at a news conference Tuesday outside City Hall to highlight the issue. He said his organization worked with two boys who attended the same school and lived on the same street but in different parts of town. One student had five times the internet speed at home — "even though it was the exact same company, exact same package," he said.

Los Angeles could become the first city in the nation to end digital discrimination and hold internet providers accountable for offering slower, costlier broadband in low-income communities.

On Tuesday, Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson introduced a motion to direct the city attorney to work with community-based groups and create a process for organizations to submit discrimination complaints on behalf of a larger group of residents.

"The least we can do is make sure every Angeleno has equitable access to the information superhighway," Harris-Dawson said.

The item heads to the council's Civil and Human Rights Committee next month. If approved, the city would also be tasked with analyzing discrimination complaints, including demographic information, and be required to report annually on any potential trends. More than 200,000 households across Los Angeles County lack internet service, according to the U.S. Census.

"We need to make sure we have a level playing field," Councilmember Bob Blumenfield who co-sponsored the motion said. "And this today will create an avenue for Angelenos to submit complaints about discrimination and for ways for the city to get actively involved in addressing it."

This comes a month after the Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules to stop broadband providers from digitally discriminating against customers based on race, income and other protected traits. The order allows the FCC to fine providers for not providing equal service to different communities “without adequate justification,” and sets up a process for the public to submit complaints. More importantly, it defined digital discrimination to include both unequal treatment and disparate effect for protected groups.

The move is being hailed as the first major U.S. digital civil rights policy that could have significant implications at the local and state levels.

“It’s such an explicit win,” said Ray López-Chang, director of advocacy and planning at GPSN, an education nonprofit that's a convening member of DELA.

López-Chang said the city’s digital discrimination ordinance should be consistent with the new FCC rules.

"This is the issue of the decade," he said. "It's time for the internet to be treated as a human and civil right."

DELA partnered with the California Community Foundation to document “troubling pricing practices” by the nation’s largest internet service providers. They released a report last October that shows a “clear and consistent pattern” of low-income communities being advertised higher prices for slower service than wealthier communities.

The findings were supported by an April 2023 study from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Researchers analyzed advertised prices at more than 35,000 addresses that have access to Spectrum plans across the city and found similar results: Low-income communities are advertised higher prices for slower service.

Spectrum serves more than 98% of LA County households. In a statement, the company said it's working to "comprehensively" address access, adoption and affordability barriers to broadband. It said the UCSB study draws on "cherry-picked, limited-time promotional offers" and not the actual speeds and prices customers choose.