Friend — It took just five weeks for the number of people in the United States who died from COVID-19 to jump from 300,000 to 400,000. And now, Joe Biden is predicting that the death toll could rise to 500,000 — half a million — in another month’s time.

Knowing this, we need to take strong action now toward closing the digital divide for good — and making sure that no one’s life is endangered because they lack access to essential lifesaving information. But Biden’s new COVID-19 relief bill does little to expand internet access.

We are going to need your help to make sure the new administration has its priorities right today, and in the coming years. Please consider becoming a monthly donor and providing the reliable source of funding we need to seize every opportunity and meet every challenge that arises.

Mitch McConnell will have a chance to retake the Senate in two years, meaning that our time to achieve ambitious goals may be short.

But Free Press Action has a track record of working with Congress to push for meaningful, progressive change. In May 2020, we helped shape and pass the House’s HEROES Act, legislation that would help close the digital divide.

More recently, we were closely involved in crafting portions of the December COVID relief bill, ultimately negotiating a historic $7 billion investment in broadband access and infrastructure.

Help make sure that Free Press Action has the resources we need to push for universal broadband, Net Neutrality and other ambitious goals — become a monthly donor today.

With your ongoing support, we will continue to work with our allies in Congress — including Sen. Ron Wyden, who declared on Inauguration Day that “broadband access and deployment should be in every recovery package, in every infrastructure package.”¹

We share the senator’s sense of urgency. Lives are at stake. And with the Biden administration negotiating multiple, once-in-a-generation crises, it’s critical that we pursue every opportunity to ensure that issues like universal broadband are prioritized.

Please become a monthly donor today and help provide the reliable source of funding we need to drive as much real change as possible before the midterm elections arrive.

Thank you for everything you do for our movement.

In solidarity,

Heather and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net

P.S. We don’t take a single dollar from business, government or political parties. That means we truly rely on individual supporters to fuel our work. By providing a reliable source of funding every month of the year, monthly donors are the backbone of our movement for media justice, racial justice and human rights. Become a monthly donor today and help ensure that Free Press Action can take advantage of every opportunity that arises before Mitch McConnell has a chance to retake the Senate in two years and obstruct progress.

1. “Internet Regulation Takes on Greater Urgency as Pandemic Highlights the Digital Divide,” The Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2021