LGBT Tech Group Highlights Adoption, Privacy Concerns for Youth, Seniors at Policy Forum

The Internet has made it substantially easier for the LGBT community to connect, learn and engage in self-expression, said FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai and others at an LGBT Technology Partnership event Thursday. Panelists said there’s a need for rural communities to access broadband through the National Broadband Plan and the need for security and privacy online for LGBT youth. “We have to ensure that the Internet, with all its power and promise, continues to thrive for all people, including those in the LGBT community,” said Pai.

Broadband access is especially important to LGBT teenagers in the U.S., said Pai. Gay teens spend an average of five hours a day online, are two and a half times more likely to meet a close friend online and are more likely “than their straight counterparts to search the Internet” for health information, said Pai, who expressed concern that gay teens don’t have sufficient access to the Internet. Broadband adoption and deployment has increased 7 percent in the past four years, a dramatic slowdown from 2000 to 2009 when the number Americans with broadband at home jumped 7 percent each year, said Pai. “The pace is even slower in rural parts of the country, where broadband deployment and adoption has lagged and gay teenagers go online less often than those in suburbs and cities,” said Pai. “This means that those who are most likely to feel isolated and could most benefit from broadband are the least likely to have it."

The rate of broadband adoption slowed because of obsolete regulations “designed from an earlier era,” said Pai. Requiring carriers to maintain legacy infrastructure is “siphoning investments away from new networks and services,” said Pai. The multi-stakeholder model for the Internet is “currently under attack” with control of the networks that transmit online communications and “control of the people who use the Internet” as the bottom line, said Pai. International regulations could lead to negative results for LGBT individuals, he said, citing Internet speech that supports “nontraditional sexual attitudes” as illegal in Russia and a “pervasive Internet censorship regime” in Saudi Arabia that blocks Saudis from accessing websites that the government disapproves, including gay-themed sites.

Hardware, software and communications systems are key to LGBT communities across the U.S., said Christopher Wood, co-founder of the LGBT Technology Partnership. “Millions of LGBT individuals rely on this technology and they are affected by the policies that govern it,” said Wood. Aspen Institute fellow Blair Levin, who wrote the National Broadband Plan, said the plan went far beyond the normal FCC mandate. “We evaluated broadband infrastructure and applications in terms of healthcare, job development and education,” said Levin. LGBT individuals are already part of the rural communities that the plan addresses, but their needs add another layer of complexity, said Michael Crawford, Freedom to Marry director-online programs. “We need to have access to the Internet and mobile devices in a safe way; otherwise it makes it more difficult for LGBT individuals to show who they really are online,” he said.

Broadband and mobile connections give LGBT individuals an incentive to stay in their home communities, where they might have important ties, said Jessie Daniels, a Hunter College professor who works on the Social Justice Sexuality Project. In her research, she found mobile phones are lifelines for LGBT youth who move to New York City. “A lot of the youth become homeless because it is very expensive for them to find jobs and get housing,” she said. “They are hanging out in Apple stores because they can get free broadband to apply for jobs and find schools.” CenterLink helps to bring LGBT communities together with 200 online centers in the U.S., said Denise Spivak, CenterLink director-membership, saying more than 1 million people use its website worldwide. “We found seniors use our website in rural communities because they are afraid of stigma or harm from friends who have known them for years if they come out,” said Spivak. “We provide a safe community where seniors can figure out when it safe to come or where they can get a free HIV test."

Privacy can also play a major role in LGBT communities online because, despite privacy settings, “nothing is really private and it can go public anytime,” said Levin. The Trevor Project has specific privacy guidelines, which allow individuals to use photos with an identifier to confirm their identities, said Alison Gill, Trevor Project director-government affairs. “Being outed involuntarily can have dire repercussions for LGBT individuals who could be ejected from the phone or lose their shelter, said Gill. “We are careful not to divulge any personal information and we give guidance on how to be safe online."

Facebook’s privacy regulations work differently, said Brooke Oberwetter, Facebook associate manager-public policy. “Facebook might not be the best place for people to come out,” said Oberwetter. “We use a real-name culture because that’s who you are in real life and it keeps people from behaving illegally.” Facebook depends on user education on its privacy settings to let people understand those settings and changes, said Oberwetter. Facebook’s ability to allow users to share posts with specific groups is a real success story, said Berin Szoka, TechFreedom president. “The Internet has changed in empowering and liberating ways,” said Szoka. “We made the transition from sites like Friendster with limited functionality to sites like Facebook that allow us to share with specific people.” Oberwetter said teenagers use sites such as Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram for different social media experiences. “We all have a competitive angle that benefits consumers and users,” she said.

Industry, the government and users have a shared responsibility to make the Internet safer, said Emily Eckland, National Cyber Security Alliance director-digital strategy. “Privacy in the mobile app world is still coming together and it is going to be” more important going forward, said Eckland. Other new technologies, like “the Internet of things,” such as Google Glass, will also bring new challenges to privacy concerns, said Christopher Wolf, Future of Privacy Forum co-founder. “We need to think about privacy as new technology develops, so they do provide more good than harm in terms of privacy,” said Wolf.