Media Center

WASHINGTON — On Monday, 16 civil-rights, human-rights and media-justice organizations called on the top executives at AT&T and DIRECTV to cut business ties with One America News Network, the propaganda channel responsible for spreading anti-democratic disinformation, promoting COVID-19 conspiracy theories and fueling racism.

Friday night, the House voted to pass the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act which includes $65 billion in broadband investments. These investments will fund the deployment of high-speed networks in unserved and underserved areas, make broadband more affordable for low-income households, and fund digital inclusion programs that ensure communities have the necessary tools and skills to effectively use broadband. The legislation also includes important protections that enhance broadband pricing transparency and takes steps that prevent providers from engaging in discriminatory deployment. The legislation passed the Senate in August, which now sits at the president’s desk awaiting signature.

Every American deserves a voice in our elections, but all but one Senate Republican revealed again today that they prefer to pick and choose who can vote and who cannot in order to gain partisan advantage. Today’s Senate vote was more than eight years in the making after the Supreme Court gutted a core provision of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County and four months since it weakened another pillar in Brnovich. The modern Republican Party still tries to cling to the mantle of the ‘Party of Lincoln’ as it turns its back on voting rights as some states pass a new generation of Jim Crow laws to make it harder for many Americans to vote – particularly Black and Brown Americans. 

Common Cause is urging every member of the U.S. Senate to vote to begin debate on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act when the Senate considers the legislation later this week. The letter, sent today to every Senator, emphasizes that already this year, 19 states have enacted 33 restrictive voting laws that make it harder for Americans – particularly Black and Brown voters - to have a say in choosing their elected leaders. The letter also notes that Common Cause plans to key-vote this legislation in our Democracy Scorecard, which we send to our 1.5 million members.

Raleigh, N.C. (Oct. 29, 2021) — Civil rights groups filed a state lawsuit today challenging the North Carolina Legislature’s process for drawing new N.C. House and Senate voting maps. The suit would block proposed state legislative districts for failing to consider race during the initial stages of the map-making process in ways that could have devastating impacts on the representation of Black North Carolinians in violation of established state and federal law.  The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) brought the case on behalf of the North Carolina NAACP, Common Cause, and individual voters, alongside pro bono counsel with the law firm Hogan Lovells. The case, NC NAACP vs. Berger, was filed in Wake County Superior Court, North Carolina.

With The Facebook Papers adding daily to the evidence of the inability and unwillingness of social media giants to combat disinformation and other harmful content, Common Cause today released an extensive report on election disinformation, including a comprehensive set of reforms needed to curb this huge and growing problem and protect our right to vote in elections next week, next year, and beyond. Based on more than 15,000 hours monitoring social media in the 2020 election cycle, together with legal and policy expertise, “As a Matter of Fact: The Harms Caused by Election Disinformation” details the seriousness and scale of the threat, current applicable state and federal laws, and the woefully inadequate and inconsistent civic integrity policies of the social media giants. The report concludes with a sweeping series of reform recommendations to better enable us to fight back against election disinformation.