Coronavirus Roundup: Municipal Broadband, Zoombombing, Voter Registration Via Snapchat

A report from BroadbandNow finds that people from states with municipal broadband restrictions pay more for their internet than those without them.

The report found that more than half of those from states without municipal broadband restrictions paid $60 or less for their connection.

Several states oppose municipal broadband because it could undercut business or because their population distribution does not require a government-owned network. For example, in Montana, there are less than seven people per square mile.

Other states, like Missouri and Nevada, completely bar municipalities from selling broadband to consumers.

The total number of states with municipal broadband restrictions this year is 22, down from last year’s 25.

Church sues Zoom over pornographic ‘Zoombombing’ incident

A San Francisco church has filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that Zoom “refused to take … action” after a hacker ‘zoombombed’ a Bible study and forced participants to watch pornography and sexual abuse imagery.

The mostly-senior-citizen attendees had their computers’ control buttons disabled, making it impossible to turn off the videos, many of which contained pedophilia, CBS reported.

In its suit, the church alleges that Zoom was negligent, breached an implied contract and violated the church’s privacy, among other accusations. They are asking for a jury trial.

Snapchat rallies youth vote

More than half of the 425,000 individuals who used Snapchat to register to vote during the 2018 midterms ended up voting, Axios reported.

Of those registered, about 57 percent were 18 – 24 years old, a demographic that has historically proven difficult to attract.

Virtual voter registration will likely prove increasingly useful amid the coronavirus pandemic, especially for first-time voters who normally would have had the help of their college or university in registering.

“Snapchat is the platform that can fill all the institutional gaps in reaching young people,” Democracy Works Program Director Mike Ward told Bloomberg. “They are uniquely positioned to be the most powerful youth voter registration force in the country.”

Candidates in the 2020 presidential election have also lined up to be a part of Snapchat’s original show “Good Luck America,” which is viewed millions of times by users across the country.

Of all the candidates, President Donald Trump has built the largest following on the platform.