Report: “Senator Ted Cruz is Trying to Block Wi-Fi Hotspots For School Children”

From Ars Technica:

US Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is trying to block a plan to distribute Wi-Fi hotspots to schoolchildren, claiming it will lead to unsupervised Internet usage, endanger kids, and possibly restrict kids’ exposure to conservative viewpoints. “The government shouldn’t be complicit in harming students or impeding parents’ ability to decide what their kids see by subsidizing unsupervised access to inappropriate content,” Cruz said.

Cruz, chairman of the Commerce Committee, yesterday announced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would nullify the hotspot rule issued by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC voted to adopt the rule in July 2024 under then-Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, saying it was needed to help kids without reliable Internet access complete their homework.

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The FCC order said it would be up to schools and libraries “to make determinations about acceptable use in their communities.” Schools and libraries seeking funding would be “subject to the requirements under the Children’s Internet Protection Act, which requires local educational agencies and libraries to establish specific technical protections before allowing network access,” the FCC said. They also must certify on an FCC form that they have updated and publicly posted acceptable use policies and may be required to provide the policies and evidence of where they are posted to the FCC.

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More From the U. S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation Release:

As adopted, the Biden administration’s Wi-Fi Hotspot Order unlawfully expanded the Universal Service Fund (USF) to subsidize Wi-Fi hotspots for off-campus use by schoolchildren, despite the Communications Act clearly limiting the Commission’s USF authority to “classrooms.” This partisan order, strongly opposed by then-Commissioner Brendan Carr and Commissioner Nathan Simington, represents an overreach of the FCC’s mandate and poses serious risk to children’s online safety and parental rights. Unlike in a classroom or study hall, off-premises hotspot use is not typically supervised, inviting exposure to inappropriate content, including social media. Additionally, since the FCC does not require schools to obtain parental consent before distributing federally-subsidized hotspots, the program risks undermining parents’ ability to control the content their kids can access online. By shifting control from parents to schools, the order also heightens the risk of censoring kids’ exposure to conservative viewpoints—a trend recently already seen in many districts.

Further, the Biden FCC’s unlawful mission creep threatens to increase taxes on American families at a time when the USF contribution factor is already at a record high of 36%. The FCC’s order imposes no overall limit on the amount of federal dollars that can be expended on the hotspots, lacks mean-testing to target children who may not have internet at home, and allows for duplication of service in areas where the federal government is already subsidizing broadband. As a result, the order could strain the USF while increasing the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse.

“Every parent of a young child or teenager either worries about, or knows first-hand, the real dangers of the internet. The government shouldn’t be complicit in harming students or impeding parents’ ability to decide what their kids see by subsidizing unsupervised access to inappropriate content,” said Sen. Cruz. “I am proud to lead my colleagues in taking this critical step to reverse the Biden FCC’s overreach and put parents back in control of their children’s online access.”

Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), John Curtis (R-Utah), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) are original co-sponsors of the CRA Joint Resolution.

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From Broadband Breakfast:

Former FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said her Wi-Fi hotspots rules were designed to close the homework – something seen during the pandemic when students accessed the internet in the parking lot of fast-food restaurants.

The senators argued that shifting device and internet control from parents to schools heightened the “risk of censoring kids’ exposure to conservative viewpoints.”

Cruz and the resolution’s co-sponsors viewed the Wi-Fi Hotspot Order as a blatant overreach of the FCC’s power and an unnecessary increase to the already high 36.3% contribution factor that collect revenue for USF.

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