Trump Kills 'Woke' Broadband Program Because It Has the Word 'Equity'

President Trump turned his sights to the little-known Digital Equity Act, calling the program “racist” and “unconstitutional” in a post on his social media site Truth Social on Thursday, vowing to end the program “immediately.” “Immediate” turned out to be the very next day, when states and nonprofits began receiving notices that said their grants had been terminated. A copy of the notice obtained by CNET states, “As the President determined and as Secretary Lutnick agreed,” the Act uses “impermissible and unconstitutional racial preferences.” The Digital Equity Act is relatively obscure outside of broadband circles -- a $2.75 billion program tucked into the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that Biden signed into law in 2021. Locating local internet providers People in the broadband world typically frame the digital divide -- the gap between internet haves-and-have-nots -- as a three-pronged issue: access to a strong internet connection, the means to afford it and the too ... Read full article.