Kevin Selleck Professor H. Culik ENGL 1190 22 April 2017
Digital Redlining in today’s society
Redlining is a discriminatory practice in which large corporations, and companies deny or limit access to certain products, or services in low-income areas. The main geographic locations that are made victims of redlining are the inner-city areas. The areas that are discriminated against are mainly areas of different color, and ethnic backgrounds. Which is why many believe the practice of redlining is a form of racism. The use of technology has changed the way redlining is used in today’s society. A new form of redlining has been created called Digital Redlining which is,”A set of education policies, investment decisions, and IT practices that actively create and maintain class boundaries through structures that discriminate against specific groups.”(Gilliard) Digital Redlining can be found in major companies, and institutions. The policies can create an invisible wall which sets strict limits for citizens of lower class, and different ethnicities. Digital Redlining is a major issue in today’s society, and most citizens do not even realize it is a large problem because they do not come from the inner city, low income areas that are affected the most by the issue. The only way for the average citizen to gain knowledge on the issue is if the major company gets exposed by news outlets for their discriminatory policies. While some companies get exposed for their discriminatory practices there are also many cases that are still unknown to the public. Digital Redlining practices are widely used by communication companies in which they create a large digital divide. Also, it has been known that Digital Redlining is used on large social media platforms such as Facebook. Digital Redlining is even commonly used in citizen’s access for receiving loans, so it also plays a large role in the financial industry in America. Digital redlining and the digital divide that is created in America is a large issue that needs to be addressed.
The large communications companies in America have been known to be huge players in the discriminatory practice of Digital Redlining. “Often, ISPs elect to equip affluent neighborhoods with service and upgrades first, then neglect to extend that infrastructure to poor urban or rural areas.” (Tveten) The low-income neighborhoods are forced to pay full prices for their service, and their neighborhood’s internet system can’t even run at a speed higher than 3 megabits per second. Where suburban neighborhoods can reach up to 100 megabits per second. Which means that there is a reason to believe that there is a large digital divide created between the low-income areas, and suburban areas. The term digital divide means, “the socioeconomic and other disparities between those people who have opportunities and skills enabling them to benefit from digital resources, especially the Internet, and those who do not have these opportunities or skills” (Dictionary.com). It is believed that the companies participate in these discriminatory practices because they believe they will not make their return on investment. Which is unfair to the people of low-income areas, because there are many citizens that would be happy with a fully functioning internet plan. Since the internet companies do not have a high level of competition in the low-income areas they believe there is no reason to provide quality internet service. One ISP who is a prime offender of digital redlining is AT&T. Their discriminatory acts have been exposed to the public in 2016. The NDIA questioned AT&T for refusing to provide affordable internet service plans to low-income areas where the company has not even upgraded its network to be on par with their service in higher class neighborhoods. In other words, the citizens of low-income areas had to pay full price for an internet service thatlags far behind the normal internet service that is provided in more affluent neighborhoods. "Specifically, AT&T has chosen not to extend its 'fiber-to-the-node' VDSL infrastructure—which is now the standard for most Cuyahoga County suburbs and other urban AT&T markets throughout the US—to the majority of Cleveland Census blocks, including the overwhelming majority of blocks with individual poverty rates above 35 percent,"(Brodkin) The report also states that Ohio’s affluent suburbs get speeds that start at the minimum of 18 megabits per second. While the low-income neighborhoods at max can receive 6 megabits per second. AT&T released a statement claiming that they have invested a total of $135 billion into their service between 2012 and 2016. Yet the money they claim to have invested has yet to reach the inner-city communities.
A new ISP has recently came out, and it is called Google Fiber. Google Fiber is a very advanced internet service, and a huge breakout in technology. Google Fiber has a connection that offers 1000 megabits per second. A service so ahead of its time that no other ISP has yet to bring to the market yet. However, the service is already raising eyebrows for a potential case of digital redlining. Also, it will widen the digital divide even further than it already is. The service is only being provided in higher class areas around the country. The service is very limited, and still on the rise. It is so limited that the company does not even show future plans on their website to bring their product to the state of Michigan, or Ohio. Many inter-city communities will not receive the service. Also, the company shows no indication of bringing their product to the rural states in the country. There is clear evidence on their website to show they are only providing their product to limited areas in the country, and it is assumed that the service will only be able to be obtained by the citizens who live in the upper-class areas that surround the large cities they are coming too.
The communications business is not the only area in business that uses digital redlining. The financing companies also are being accused of digital redlining, but in a different way than the communication companies.The banks have been known to use redlining since the 20th century by denying mortgages to citizens in areas that were considered too black. However, in the 21st century this form of redlining has risen due to the advancements made in technology. The finance companies are now using digital redlining through social media, and the main platform used for this case is Facebook. “When an individual applies for a loan, the lender examines the credit ratings of members of the individual’s social network who are connected to the individual. If the average credit rating of these members is at least a minimum credit score, the lender continues to process the loan application. Otherwise, the loan application is rejected.” (Meyer) This can be identified as a strong case of digital redlining; a person can have a good credit but they may have Facebook friends who don’t, and it can negatively affect them even though it’s not their fault. The fact that this form of digital redlining is used, a claim can be made that this is a form of racism. This claim can be made because most citizens primarily associate with others of the same color. The 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination against any applicant. The Federal Trade Commission(FTC) is created to enforce the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and give every citizen an equal opportunity to receive a loan without being discriminated against.
Redlining is an issue that has existed in the United States since the 19th century. The claim can be made that redlining is a form of racism, because most of the victims of the issue are citizens of different color and ethnicities. The government has put laws in place to help put an end to the discriminatory acts. However, the advancements made in technology have only changed the way redlining is used. Now the large corporations are using Digital Redlining in place of the original roots of redlining. The companies are creating a large digital divide between low-income, and high-income citizens. Which is creating an invisible wall for the citizens of the lower-class, and that wall is hard to be broken because they do not have access to the same services. Digital Redlining is making it difficult for low-class citizens to move up in society. The finance companies are using technology to determine whether or not a citizen can receive a loan. Which makes it difficult for the citizen to leave the inner-city area where they come from, without being able to take out a loan for a house in a better neighborhood. Which therefore prevents them from getting access to more quality internet plans. The evidence shows that there is an invisible wall that is made as a result from the digital redlining issue. The only way outside citizens of the issue can obtain knowledge of the situation is by reports from the media that expose the large corporations who are offenders of the discrimination polices. The more that the corporations get exposed, then the more the government can step in and get involved to end the issue of digital redlining. It will be imperative for the future efforts to end digital redlining, that the citizens obtain knowledge of the issue and voice their opinions on the topic. Every citizen of the United States deserves to be treated equally, and have an equal opportunity to achieve their future goals. Every citizen deserves an opportunity to achieve the American dream, which is to create their own success through hard work, determination, and initiative.
Works Cited
Gilliard, Chris. “Digital Redlining, Access, and Privacy.” Common Sense Education, 6 July 2016,
Tveten, Julianne. “Digital Redlining: How Internet Service Providers Promote Poverty” Truthout, 14 December, 2016.
"digital divide". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 22 Apr. 2017. <Dictionary.com
Brodkin, Jon. “AT&T allegedly “discriminated” against poor people in broadband upgrades” 10 March, 2017
Meyer, Robinson. “Could a Bank Deny Your Loan Base on Your Facebook Friends?” The Atlantic 25 September, 2015.