Story

The "home offices" being improvised on street corners with homeless and loiterers camped out on overturned newspaper stands around the city

That sounds like exactly what they should be trying to do. It is very literally helping "break down the digital divide." If they didn't want people using the kiosk for the internet, then why did they ever turn them on to begin with?

It sounds like what they really wanted was for the population of people who already have access to the internet, whether it be at their jobs, on their phones, at home, or at a neighbors, to get more access. Restricting access to people who can tether their device almost explicitly reinforces the "digital divide."