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John,
Breaking news: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) just announced plans to restore net neutrality!1
This is a huge deal and something we’ve been working toward for years since former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai repealed the net neutrality rules that millions of people fought for. These rules are common sense: they prevent cable and phone companies from charging unfair fees and controlling what we can see and do online.2
The chair of the FCC just gave a speech where she confirmed that the agency is planning to move quickly to restore Title II net neutrality protections. But the telecom industry, who want to avoid regulation so they can consolidate their power and screw you over more than they already do, are already pouring money into lobbying, astroturf, and disinformation efforts to derail net neutrality and prevent the FCC from reinstating it.
We are ready to do the hard work of exposing astroturf campaigns for what they are so the focus stays on restoring net neutrality. Can you support us?
DONATE
Even before the agency made its announcement today, the industry had already placed an op-ed falsely claiming that net neutrality won’t survive a supreme court challenge. And, oops, the outlet that published it didn’t disclose that it was funded by the telecom industry. We can expect a lot more of this.3
We know how to fight them, because we’ve done it before and we won, both at the FCC and when we passed a strong net neutrality law in California. We’ll need to:
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Write and place op-eds and letters to the editor in support of net neutrality
- Pitch media outlets and generate accurate press coverage of the FCC proceeding
- Create educational materials debunking the telecom industry’s lies and exposing their dark money “astroturf” operations
- Develop videos, memes, graphics, and explainers for social media awareness
- Drive large numbers of comments to the FCC, as well as calls and emails to Congress
We’re ready to do all of this. But all of it costs money and staff time, and we’re currently dangerously behind our grassroots fundraising goals for the year.
Will you chip in as much as you can to help restore net neutrality?
DONATE
We spend so much of our time trying to keep things from getting worse. Here’s a chance to actually make things better for once. We’re all in to restore net neutrality.
Are you with us?
-Evan at FFTF
Footnotes:
1. Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/09/fcc-details-plan-to-restore-the-net-neutrality-rules-repealed-by-ajit-pai/
2. Vice: https://www.vice.com/en/article/epxndw/restore-net-neutrality-or-facebook-will-dominate-the-internet-forever
3. Twitter: https://twitter.com/publicknowledge/status/1706327860800106708
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