Hi there,
Good news: We’ve seen a tremendous amount of activism to protect Net Neutrality since last week, when FCC Chairman Pai formally announced his plan to roll back the open-internet rules at the agency’s Dec. 14 meeting. Conversations about the importance of Net Neutrality have been happening all over the internet and IRL too.
Here are some highlights from the past two weeks:
#NetNeutrality has trended globally on Twitter, and has covered the front page of reddit. Redditors representing a dizzying range of political philosophies and subcultures have spoken out: In fact, the most popular post in the NASCAR group’s entire history is about the need to save the open internet.1
And last week, over 600,000 people used the BattlefortheNet.com call tool to reach out to their members of Congress — so many calls that some Capitol Hill staffers have asked us to make the calls stop.
But we need to keep the pressure on: Call your members of Congress — and tell them we’ll stop calling only if Pai cancels the vote to end the open internet.
And guess what: All of the calls you’ve made, meetings you've attended and protests you’ve shown up to are making a difference. Need some proof?
• Members of Congress are tweeting and writing letters to express their support for the FCC’s Net Neutrality rules. In fact, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine became the first GOP senator2 to publicly oppose Pai’s proposal, joining scores of Democratic leaders who have been speaking out.
• Dec. 7 day of action: Net Neutrality supporters have signed up to organize more than 600 protests at Verizon stores in all 50 states on Dec. 7, which will be another huge day of action for the open internet.3
• And just a few days ago, dozens of activists took to the streets of Los Angeles to decry Chairman Pai’s plan to end the internet as we know it.4
• We’re teaming up with our partners in the Voices for Internet Freedom Coalition — which fights for the digital rights of communities of color — to host a Net Neutrality Wake-Up Call Rally5 outside the FCC the morning of the big vote. Activists, artists, musicians, lawmakers, former FCC commissioners and others who are committed to fighting for both Net Neutrality and racial justice will be there.
In all the years we’ve spent fighting to protect the open internet, we’ve never seen anything like it. So don’t give up, because this isn’t over.
We’ll keep fighting like hell to save the internet you love, but we need your help. Use our call tool to call your members of Congress today.
Thanks for all your support—
Lucia, Amy, Candace and the rest of the Free Press Action Fund team
freepress.net
P.S. The fight to save the open internet is far from over. Call your members of Congress today and tell them to stop the FCC from ruining the internet.
1. “The Highest-Rated Post Ever in r/NASCAR Is About Net Neutrality,” Quartz, Nov. 28, 2017: https://act.freepress.net/go/17948?t=12&akid=7535%2E10296224%2EfLHWoG
2. “Maine Sen. Susan Collins Signals Her Endorsement of Net Neutrality,” The Daily Dot, Nov. 25, 2017: https://act.freepress.net/go/17949?t=14&akid=7535%2E10296224%2EfLHWoG
3. "Verizon Protests," Team Internet, Nov. 28, 2017: http://act.freepress.net/go/17934?t=16&akid=7535%2E10296224%2EfLHWoG
4. “FCC’s Potential Repeal of Net Neutrality Protested in L.A.,” KABC, Nov. 28, 2017: http://act.freepress.net/go/17950?t=18&akid=7535%2E10296224%2EfLHWoG
5. "Net Neutrality Wake Up Call," Voices for Internet Freedom, Nov. 28, 2017: https://act.freepress.net/go/17913?t=20&akid=7535%2E10296224%2EfLHWoG
