AT&T continues to fan the flames of white nationalism and spread election and COVID-19 misinformation to millions.

An in-depth investigative report into the conservative, far-right news channel One America News (OAN)--a channel flagrant that one correspondent openly called for the mass execution of election officials--recently revealed that AT&T has been almost solely funding the channel.1

OAN was a major vehicle for Trump while he was in office, and continues to provide a “friendly” platform for him and his allies.2 They broadcast tons of other toxic disinformation, too, including hate-filled anti-LGBTQ content, false information calling the 2020 presidential election results fraudulent, and a campaign discouraging the COVID-19 vaccine, even as people died from the delta variant. OAN’s content is so toxic that other TV carriers, like Comcast and Charter Spectrum, refuse to carry it.3

That’s why it’s so alarming to learn that AT&T, the company that called for “equal justice for Black Americans” in response to George Floyd’s murder, and believes it has a “moral and business obligation to...equality and fairness,” would choose to carry OAN on one of its platforms.4,5 The report revealed that more than “ninety percent of OAN’s revenue came from a contract with AT&T-owned television platforms, including satellite broadcaster DirecTV.”6

This makes AT&T a major white nationalist enabler.

Watching television is one of the most important and influential ways we get our information.7 It is extremely harmful that AT&T, the largest communications company in the world, is enabling a television channel that not only reports false information, but emboldens hate and empowers white nationalists.8 “OAN and all of its lies” could not exist without AT&T.9 In fact, according to OAN’s founder, AT&T wanted to fund a conservative network, which incentivized OAN’s founding.10 Rather than coming clean, AT&T continues to deflect responsibility for underwriting OAN, stating that they offer hundreds of channels with “a variety of viewpoints.”11

We cannot afford to allow AT&T, the world’s largest communications company, to continue to fan the flames of white nationalism and spread election and COVID-19 misinformation to millions.

References:

“AT&T wanted another Fox News, and OAN is what it got,” Media Matters for America, October 6, 2021, [act.colorofchange.org]

“How AT&T helped build far-right One America News,” Reuters, October 6, 2021, [act.colorofchange.org]

“OAN’s months-long campaign against COVID-19 vaccines,” Media Matters for America, August 2, 2021, [act.colorofchange.org]

“The Mandate for Equitable Justice,” AT&T, June 16, 2020, [act.colorofchange.org]

“Our Commitment to Equality,” AT&T, [act.colorofchange.org]

“How AT&T helped build far-right One America News,” Reuters, October 6, 2021, [act.colorofchange.org]

“You Are What You Watch? The Social Effects of TV,” The New York Times, July 25, 2019, [act.colorofchange.org]

“How AT&T helped build far-right One America News,” Reuters, October 6, 2021, [act.colorofchange.org]

“AT&T wanted another Fox News, and OAN is what it got,” Media Matters for America, October 6, 2021, [act.colorofchange.org]

“How AT&T helped build far-right One America News,” Reuters, October 6, 2021, [act.colorofchange.org]

“AT&T News,” October 6, 2021, [act.colorofchange.org]