Friend, there’s no doubt that 2025 looms heavy on our minds as we gear up for Trump’s return to the White House.

But before we close the books on this year, we wanted to celebrate just a few accomplishments that supporters like you have made possible. Let’s get into it — in no particular order:

WE HELPED RESTORE NET NEUTRALITY

In April, Free Press celebrated a huge milestone when the FCC restored the Net Neutrality rules that the first Trump administration overturned. The agency also reinstated its Title II authority to hold internet service providers accountable, giving it the power to protect people from privacy invasions, promote broadband competition and deployment, and take action against hidden junk fees, data caps and billing rip-offs.

As expected, industry groups representing companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon sued to overturn these protections. Free Press and several allies filed a joint brief in support of the FCC, and our lawyers traveled to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati in late October to help defend the rules.

WE FOUGHT HATE AND DISINFORMATION IN TECH

This fall, a Free Press-led coalition of civil-rights, media-advocacy and tech-accountability groups launched Democracy Is..., an initiative calling on media and tech companies to prioritize truth over sensationalism, accountability over profits and democracy over division. The project is training journalists on how to cover extremism and helping members of the public identify and combat disinformation on social media.

Throughout the year, Free Press laid important groundwork for Democracy Is... by bringing together allied organizations and educating lawmakers, newsrooms and advocates about what’s at stake. For example, in April, a Free Press-led global coalition of more than 200 civil-society organizations, researchers and journalists called on the biggest social-media platforms to strengthen their efforts to protect democratic elections worldwide in 2024. In 2025, we will continue pressuring these companies to do a better job of protecting their users.

WE RELEASED GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH

In May, we released the findings from a nationwide poll, which gauged public attitudes about media and technology in an election year. This survey shows that people in the United States believe the media system is failing to meet the civic needs of a functioning democracy. People are also highly concerned about privacy and their ability to access reliable and trustworthy information on local, national and global affairs. We’re using our poll findings to support our solutions to these problems.

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That’s just scratching the surface. With your support, we'll continue making real progress in upholding democratic values. But as technology continues to transform society — and as the Trump administration embraces an authoritarian vision for this country — new threats will put our rights at risk.

That's why your year-end donation is so important. With your help, we will fight Trump’s attacks on journalists and the truth. We will save public-media funding. We will expose the media and tech billionaires who powered Trump’s return. And if the federal government won’t help people or carry out its responsibilities, we will take our fights to the states.

A generous donor will match your gift today, so every dollar you give will go twice as far! Will you help us reach our $50,000 year-end goal?

Thank you for reading and being a part of this incredible community,

Candace and the rest of us at Free Press and Free Press Action