Sen. Dorgan calls for congressional hearings on phone company content blocking

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: October 17, 2007
Contact: Jen Howard, Free Press, (202) 265-1490, x22

Download a PDF of this press release (12 KB)

WASHINGTON -- Today, the presidents of NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Christian Coalition co-authored a Washington Post op-ed calling on Congress to address the censorship policies of phone companies like Verizon and AT&T. Last month, Verizon arbitrarily banned text messages from NARAL, deeming the lawful political speech too "controversial and unsavory" to send.

"We are on opposite sides of almost every issue," wrote NARAL President Nancy Keenan and Christian Coalition President Roberta Combs. "But when it comes to the fundamental right of citizens to participate in the political process, we're united -- and very worried. Whatever your political views -- conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, pro-choice or pro-life -- it shouldn't be up to Verizon to determine whether you receive the information you requested."

The Verizon censorship incident has raised a number of questions on Capitol Hill and among consumers about the communication industries' right to censor legal content over their networks.

At the Commerce Committee "Wireless Consumer Issues" hearing today, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said that the Internet must remain free of gatekeepers and urged the Committee to hold hearings on the recent incidents of censorship, referring to the NARAL-Christian Coalition op-ed.

"This, to me, is yet another example of a gatekeeper controlling the content of the network," said Sen. Dorgan. "I would like the Commerce Committee to hold a hearing on this issue of discrimination and further explore what I see as a clear and imminent problem."

"I applaud Senator Dorgan for his continued leadership on this critical issue," said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press. "The protection of free speech on all communications platforms is something that everyone from NARAL Pro-Choice America to the Christian Coalition can agree on."

Yesterday, Sens. Dorgan and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) -- co-sponsors of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act (S. 215) -- sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin asking for the agency's position on text message blocking by phone companies.

"Recent events demonstrate that we need effective regulations to protect consumers and ensure an open and vibrant communications platform," wrote Sens. Dorgan and Snowe. "As policymakers, we must ensure that the broadband Internet marketplace remains an open and dynamic medium for communicators."

In testimony on behalf of consumer groups, Consumers Union echoed Sen. Dorgan's call for congressional investigation into text message censorship.

"If this were a phone call being blocked, the non-discrimination provisions of the Communications Act would prevent this practice -- why should we abandon this policy for data?" asked Chris Murray, senior policy counsel of Consumers Union. "The details of the Verizon text message blocking incident are not clear; what is clear is that this warrants further scrutiny and we encourage this Committee to hold hearings on this important matter."

Verizon Wireless claims to have updated its "dusty" censorship policy but has not released it to the public. The only publicly available policy states: "Verizon Wireless reserves the right to remove or block access to any of the content, by whatever means it deems necessary in its sole discretion, without notice. ... There is a zero-tolerance policy for non-compliance."

"There is an urgent need for Congress to take action," said Ben Scott. "We simply cannot trust phone companies to play gatekeeper with legal content over their networks."

NARAL-Christian Coalition Washington Post op-ed: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101601536.html

Letter to the FCC from Sens. Dorgan and Snowe:
http://www.freepress.net/docs/dorgan_snowe_letter_2.pdf

Consumers Union testimony:
http://www.hearusnow.org/fileadmin/sitecontent/CM_senate_testimony_final_-_oct_15_2007.pdf

Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Free Press does not support or oppose any candidate for public office. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media and universal access to communications.