Democratic Digital Infrastructure

The global spread of Covid-19 has highlighted the vital need for reliable high-speed internet and the inadequacies of the for-profit, corporate model in delivering it. This report proposes new approaches to ownership and control that will accelerate and democratize digital infrastructure development, by providing full-fibre access to all, reducing corporate concentration and political power, and ensuring that people have power over their own data. Policy recommendations include overturning state-level preemption laws, utilizing federal funding to operate municipal and community broadband networks, and breaking up Big Tech companies and turning their cloud computing services into a public utility.