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Idaho internet provider blocks Facebook, Twitter amid ‘censorship’ concerns

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An internet provider in Idaho confirmed it will be blocking Facebook and Twitter from its WiFi service for some customers beginning Wednesday.

According to a report by KREM 2, the T1 WiFi service provider said it decided to block Twitter and Facebook after the company received several complaints from customers regarding censorship on the platforms.

This comes after Twitter and Facebook banned President Donald Trump from their platforms due to violations of their terms of service.

In an email posted to Twitter by a customer, T1 WiFi says, “We have the past couple days been fielding calls from customers voicing the concern that they do not want these sites allowed to be displayed on their internet feed to them and that they do not want their children to go to these sites.”

The email went on to explain that there are too many customers asking for the sites to be blocked and it would be very “tiresome” and “expensive” to visit each customer that wants the sites blocked.

The email continues, “There are too many people that have called for us to do one [customer] at a time so we will be blocking [Facebook and Twitter] and any other website that may also be censoring.”

The company says that two-thirds of its customers asked for the sites to be blocked.

Initially, the company said too many customers had requested the sites be blocked, so it would block them for all customers except for those who called the company and requested access. However, the company said Monday that those who didn’t request the sites be blocked would still have access.

The email explained that the T1 WiFi company does not condone big tech companies like Facebook and Twitter censoring users, so in return, they will be blocking them from their service.

“Our company does not believe a website or social networking site has the authority to censor what you see and post and hide information from you,” the email reads. “This is why with the amount of concerns, we have made this decision to block these two websites from being accessed from our network.”

“We also don’t condone what Google, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook and Apple are doing either to Parler by trying to strong arm them into submission. Actually looks like they are trying to exterminate the competition.”

T1 WiFi’s actions could be considered censorship by violating Washington state’s Net Neutrality law.

The issue is being investigated by the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Division, according to reports.

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Economy

White House announced $6 billion student loan forgiveness for 78,000 public service workers

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The White House recently announced a $6 billion loan forgiveness program. Nurses, teachers and firefighters are among the 78,000 public service workers who will qualify. Fox Business reports:

Due to fixes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, workers that never received forgiveness are now having their debts partially forgiven or canceled. Only about 7,000 public service borrowers received forgiveness prior to the Biden Administration, now that total hovers closer to 870,000, the announcement said.

“Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve achieved for students and student loan borrowers in the past few years,” the announcement stated. “This includes: providing the largest increases in Pell Grants in over a decade to help families who earn less than roughly $60,000 a year; fixing Income-Driven Repayment plans so borrowers in repayment for years get the relief they earned; and creating the most generous Income-Driven Repayment plan in history – the SAVE plan.”

However, there is concern over fairness that older generations are still paying off student loans and could risk losing Social Security. A group of representatives wrote a letter to Congress, hoping to address the issue of seniors still paying down student loans. Currently, under the Treasury Offset Program (TOP), the government can collect funds, such as tax refunds and Social Security, to pay outstanding student loan balances, reports Fox Business.

“Under the TOP, the federal government can withhold up to 15 percent of monthly Social Security or disability benefits for defaulted student loans,” the lawmakers explained in their letter.

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