Join us for the fourth session of the Tech/AI Justice Reading Group! We'll be holding it on Tuesday, September 30th at 6pm at the Bushwick Public Library. Note, this is a different weekday and time than our usual programming. We'll be in the library auditorium, which is located in the basement. Zoom link for the Hybrid option will be sent to those who RSVP.

The theme of this session will be "Internet for All NYC: From Corporate Capture to Community Control."

We live in the richest country in the world, in its biggest and most powerful city, yet nearly 25% of Bronx families lack reliable internet access at home. In 2020, the de Blasio administration unveiled the NYC Internet Master Plan to fix this through public-private partnerships and "open access" fiber infrastructure. While the plan had real limitations—still relying on private companies to deliver service rather than creating true public broadband—Adams abandoned even that compromise. Instead, he handed $2 billion in Big Apple Connect renewals to Spectrum and Altice, the same companies responsible for digital redlining, while families spend up to 10% of their income on internet service.

Now we have a chance to do it right. With a socialist leading the mayoral race, we can fight for genuine public internet: low-cost municipal broadband (or free for those who need it) controlled by communities, not corporations. The city already owns massive fiber infrastructure through its schools, libraries, and agencies—we just need to expand it to serve everyone. Picture families no longer choosing between internet bills and groceries, students completing homework on real computers instead of struggling with phone screens, and thousands of good union jobs building the network. By redirecting the $2 billion in corporate subsidies toward utilizing existing dark fiber and building new worker-owned infrastructure, and supporting existing City Council legislation, we can deliver what democratic socialism looks like in practice: taking essential services from private hands and putting them under public control.

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The NYC-DSA Tech Action Working Group has re-launched this political education series where we explore Tech and AI from a socialist perspective through collective study and discussion. Our goal is to bridge knowledge gaps, foster interdisciplinary dialogue, and promote equitable political education on AI technologies, empowering us to make informed decisions about the future of AI and technology in society.

The series alternates between discussion-based sessions focused on theoretical foundations and more teach-in style sessions centered on applied policy issues or featuring guest speakers.

Click here to view the syllabus and readings

Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions! We hope to see you there and have an insightful educational experience together! :)

Tech Action Organizing Committee

tech.action@socialists.nyc
Instagram: @NYCDSATechAction
Twitter: @NYCDSATechWG
Bluesky: @NYCDSATech.bsky.social