John,

This is stunning. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, a lobbyist for AT&T just said the quiet part out loud: the telecom industry is trying to stop the confirmation of Gigi Sohn to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for only one reason: they want to keep the agency deadlocked and prevent them from restoring net neutrality.¹

Of course, everyone knows this, but it’s shocking to hear an industry lobbyist just come right out and say it in a press interview. A former FCC counsel is quoted in the same piece and sums it up plainly: “they are looking out for themselves,” not everyday Internet users.

The telecom lobby is using every dirty trick in the book to stop net neutrality champion Gigi Sohn from being confirmed to the FCC. It’s absolutely critical that we drive phone calls and emails to the relevant Senators immediately. Will you chip in to help fight this corruption?

DONATE

Telecom monopolies like AT&T and Comcast are terrified of Gigi Sohn because she’s basically the opposite of Ajit Pai. Instead of being a puppet for the industry, if she’s confirmed to the FCC she would be a true champion for Internet freedom and affordability.

So they’ve been pulling out all the stops to try to prevent her from being confirmed. They’ve been revving up their army of astroturf groups, calling in favors with key Senators on the Commerce Committee (which has to vote out the nomination before it goes to the floor) and flooding the media with misleading op-eds and letters to the editor.

But here’s the deal: we have the votes to get Gigi Sohn confirmed to the FCC and restore net neutrality, we just need to get key Senators like Maria Cantwell to stop dragging their feet and schedule a vote. Right now most lawmakers are out for the holidays, but we’re planning to hit the ground running and flood them with phone calls and emails as soon as they return in January.

Will you make a donation today to help fund these calls and messages?

We know so many of you have been in this fight for years. You’ve seen the kind of damage that can be done when someone like Ajit Pai is running the FCC. We’re finally in a position to start reversing some of that damage, but we need all hands on deck.

This has been a tough year, so we know not everyone can donate. But if you’re in a position to make a year-end contribution toward our work, please do. We stretch every penny to fight as hard as humanly possible for the issues that matter to you, from net neutrality and privacy to free expression and human rights.

Thanks for all you do,

-Evan at Fight for the Future

Footnotes:

1. The Washington Examiner: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/industry-hopes-to-delay-return-of-net-neutrality-by-blocking-biden-fcc-nominee

Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.