Public Knowledge, Groups Warn Attorney General Sessions of Dangers of AT&T-Time Warner Merger
Public Knowledge, Groups Warn Attorney General Sessions of Dangers of AT&T-Time Warner Merger
Public Knowledge, Groups Warn Attorney General Sessions of Dangers of AT&T-Time Warner Merger

    Get Involved Today

    Today, Public Knowledge joined 13 groups in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions requesting that the Department of Justice reject the proposed AT&T/Time Warner merger.

    The letter states:

    “As proposed, this merger would give AT&T the incentive and ability to discriminate in favor of Time Warner programming on its platforms to the detriment of independent and diverse programming.

    “Because this merger poses such grave dangers to consumers and creators in mature and emerging markets, we urge the Department to investigate the merger thoroughly, and….if you conclude, as appears to us from the available information, that conditions and piecemeal divestitures will not be sufficient, then we hope you will challenge the merger in its entirety.”

    New polling results from INCOMPAS show that a majority of Republicans (57 percent) and President Trump supporters (60 percent) and 42 percent of all voters agree with the President’s campaign statement that the merger should be blocked.

    The following can be attributed to Public Knowledge President & CEO Gene Kimmelman:

    “There's a growing discomfort across the political spectrum of consumers that amassing more power in the hands of a fewer media and cable giants will drive up prices and limit choices. It's time for antitrust enforcers to do their job and stand up to monopolistic dangers like the AT&T-Time Warner merger.”

    Alliance for Community Media, Common Cause, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Courage Campaign, Free Press, Media Alliance, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Open MIC (Open Media and Information Companies Initiative), New America's Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge, The Utility Reform Network, and The Writers Guild of America-West all signed on to the letter.

    You may view the letter, the INCOMPAS polling results and President Trump’s previous campaign statements against the proposed merger.

    Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.