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"Here we go again" is right.

Community-owned broadband networks are thriving across the country. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance's Community Network Map shows a record 795 public networks delivering fast, affordable and reliable internet — hardly the "magical thinking" Annette Meeks described in her recent commentary in the Minnesota Star Tribune on the Connect Willmar Initiative. ("Municipal broadband: A zombie in our midst," Feb. 24.)

The real "zombie in our midst" is the dark money-fueled misinformation campaigns that keep rising from the dead, recycling the same debunked talking points that big broadband incumbents have peddled for decades. These attacks follow a familiar pattern, aiming to slow the momentum of communities adopting publicly owned networks.

Take the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, the nonprofit organization that Meeks leads. Like other industry-backed groups, it trots out outdated claims that public broadband is a failure — ignoring the reality that most municipal networks are thriving. Just look at two of these — Idaho Falls and Ammon, Idaho. They are among the oldest and most successful public networks in the country. There are hundreds more examples across the United States.

Ironically, the Freedom Foundation claims to champion "individual freedom," yet Meeks' argument seeks to deny Minnesotans the freedom to choose the broadband network that best serves their needs. And since the Freedom Foundation is so focused on values, perhaps it should add transparency to its list: Who funds the foundation's opposition to public broadband? Why do its arguments conveniently mirror those Big Cable has used for decades? No funders are listed on its website.

The Connect Willmar Initiative wasn't born out of ideology — it was created because "local internet providers were not interested in improving Willmar's internet infrastructure," according to the city. Yet only after the initiative gained traction did Charter Communications swoop in, deploying its usual playbook. It propped up its fake consumer group, the Alliance for Quality Broadband — a front it has used elsewhere to derail public broadband efforts — and blanketed the area with Facebook ads and mailers warning that the initiative would "burn your tax dollars," even though the city plans to pay for the network using bonds and other financial options, without an increase in taxes.

Fortunately, Willmar's residents saw through it. Earlier this month, the Willmar City Council rightly rejected Charter's push to kill the initiative, with one resident stating, "I think the people of Willmar have spoken very loudly, very clearly, they want this to happen, and I'm in agreement with that."

So much for Meeks' claim that this was a network "no one asked for" and didn't need.

Gigi Sohn is the executive director of the American Association for Public Broadband. AAPB is an organization dedicated to ensuring that communities have the freedom to choose what broadband network best serves their residents. More information can be found at AAPB.us.