BREAKING: The Washington Post reports that net neutrality champions in the House and Senate are preparing to introduce a bill to overturn Ajit Pai’s disastrous repeal of Title II. [1]
Now that the news is out, it’s only a matter of hours before the telecom lobby swarms Washington, DC and tries to undermine support for this bill.
We’re swinging into action and launching a campaign to drive emails and calls to lawmakers in support of this new bill. Will you rush an urgent donation to help us beat the telecom lobbyists and restore net neutrality?
DONATE FOR NET NEUTRALITYIt’s been a minute, so here’s a refresher: net neutrality is the basic principle that the cable and phone companies that connect us to the Internet shouldn’t be able to control what we see and do online.
Telecom giants like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon love to scam people with extra fees and crappy service, and they want to be able to cut deals with Big Tech giants like Facebook and Amazon to prioritize their apps while sticking everything else in an Internet “slow lane.”
Back in 2015, millions of people from across the political spectrum fought and won strong net neutrality rules that protected the public from this type of abuse. But then Trump appointed a former Verizon lawyer, Ajit Pai, to run the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and he gutted those rules on behalf of his telecom buddies.
Now we have a chance to undo the damage done by Ajit Pai and restore the net neutrality rules we fought for at the FCC. But we need your help. Will you chip in to help us launch a rapid-response campaign to get cosponsors for this new net neutrality bill?
The Net Neutrality and Broadband Justice Act will be introduced by net neutrality champion Senator Ed Markey (D-MA). It’s a simple, two-page bill that does exactly what it says it does: it would restore the FCC’s authority to protect the public from telecom giants and address issues like net neutrality, broadband affordability, and privacy.
But here’s the problem: now that the word is out, Internet providers will be unleashing their army of lobbyists, astroturf groups, and PR consultants to get lawmakers to oppose this common-sense bill. And we know they’re willing to fight dirty. Last year a massive investigation exposed that Big Telecom companies had funded a flood of fraudulent comments to the FCC using real people’s stolen names and addresses to create the fake appearance of opposition to net neutrality. [2]
That’s how low they’re willing to go. But we can still win. We have to be faster and louder than the telecom lobby and get as many cosponsors on this bill as possible. That will create a backstop against any attempt to undermine net neutrality legislatively, and give us time to keep fighting for this bill and to get Gigi Sohn confirmed to the FCC. [3]
These fights take time. If you’ve been with us fighting for net neutrality for years, thank you. We have a real opportunity to advance the cause right now, but we need your support. Chip in to help us build support for net neutrality in Congress!
For the Internet,
-Evan at Fight for the Future
P.S. If you need a more thorough refresher on why net neutrality is so important, you couldn’t do better than this John Oliver episode ;-)
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/18/democrats-plan-sweeping-net-neutrality-bill-fcc-majority-stalls/
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/06/technology/internet-providers-fake-comments-net-neutrality-new-york.html
[3] https://www.fastcompany.com/90752261/when-will-democrats-restore-net-neutrality
Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.
