Communications Crisis in Puerto Rico

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In Puerto Rico, the collapse of the communications networks following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 contributed to the historic death toll: Between 3,000 and 5,000 people died.
A scene of devastation in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria
Flickr user Army Corps of Engineers
In the aftermath, Free Press worked with Puerto Rican allies to hold the Federal Communications Commission and the federal government accountable. We also released a groundbreaking report documenting the FCC’s failures. We called on the agency and Congress to investigate all of the factors that contributed to the communications crisis to prevent this kind of catastrophe from happening again.
The history of colonialism and neglect from the federal government contributed to the scope of the communications disaster in Puerto Rico. In addition, climate change disproportionately impacts communities of color. And too often, telecom infrastructure is less likely to be resilient in these communities, endangering residents’ lives. Understanding what happened in Puerto Rico is critical to adopting policies to prevent such a tragedy, especially since storms like Hurricane Maria are becoming the norm.
Several members of the organization’s Puerto Rico team are Puerto Rican. The fight for Puerto Ricans’ digital rights is also a struggle for racial justice and against the harms caused by colonialism, racism and capitalism. We hope our work in Puerto Rico will help people identify the importance of addressing similar injustices in their own communities.
Join us as we challenge powerful corporations, hold policymakers accountable, and mobilize millions.
You will receive periodic email updates from Free Press and Free Press Action Fund. By opting in to mobile alerts you will receive urgent texts from Free Press and Free Press Action to your cellphone from 78748. Recurring msgs, msg & data rates may apply. You may unsubscribe at any time. We take your privacy seriously — read our privacy policy.
Thanks for signing up!
You will receive periodic email updates from Free Press and Free Press Action Fund. By opting in to mobile alerts you will receive urgent texts from Free Press and Free Press Action to your cellphone from 78748. Recurring msgs, msg & data rates may apply. You may unsubscribe at any time. We take your privacy seriously — read our privacy policy.
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