When stakeholders are unaware of information that is of relevance to them and when this information is costly to obtain (due to costs associated with information awareness, acquisition, and integration), those stakeholders suffer from information asymmetry vis-à-vis the producer and owner of this information. To overcome those conditions, mandated disclosure has been used in a number of settings, requiring the owner of information such as a chemical manufacturer to disclose the types and level of toxic releases it produces. However, without the ease of information acquisition and subsequent dissemination, such disclosure’s value remains limited. In this paper, we study broadband penetration in the United States as an enabler of the public to be better informed about manufacturers’ pollution and its implications on curbing toxic releases. Because some marginalized communities have been documented to suffer more from such toxic releases, we also study the disproportionate impact of broadband on Black communities
