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]]>Matt Petronzio: Net neutrality is in jeopardy. It’s time for you to take action.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is the U.S. government’s media regulator, is planning to completely scrap Obama-era rules protecting the idea that the internet should be an even playing field. Without these rules, the door is open for internet service providers like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast to potentially favor or discriminate against certain content and services, accept money for preferential treatment, or even charge users more for better access.
Put simply: online free speech, innovation, and creativity are at stake.
The FCC and its chairman, Ajit Pai , are cleverly burying the news this week while much of the country is focused on the Thanksgiving holiday. Voting on the rules is expected to take place as early as Dec. 14.
But you can join the fight immediately in one major way: call your representatives.
Your lawmakers in Congress have the power to stop the FCC’s elimination of net neutrality rules, and as we’ve seen time and time again, calling your reps actually works.
Here are a few tools that will help you contact your members of Congress, demand a free and fair internet, and make your voice heard.
Be sure to also educate yourself on the topic of net neutrality, and keep your eyes peeled for protests across the country, online and off.
1. Battle for the Net
#NetNeutrality is NOT DEAD YET. Congress has stopped FCC votes before. Do NOT give up!
1) RETWEET this to help spread the word that we can still stop this.
2) CALL your lawmakers: https://t.co/S8d0OxZQe0
3) PROTEST at Verizon stores on Dec 7: https://t.co/OvdNJe0Idh pic.twitter.com/oPXgyGRsam
— Fight for the Future (@fightfortheftr) November 21, 2017
Battle for the Net is a joint initiative from three organizations fighting to protect net neutrality: Fight for the Future, Demand Progress, and the Free Press Action Fund. This central hub gives you a great overview of the issue and what the FCC is trying to do.
The website has a tool, front and center, where you can enter your phone number and you’ll be connected to your representative. You’ll also get a suggested script of what to say.
Find more info here.
2. 5 Calls
https://twitter.com/make5calls/status/932956258646315008
5 Calls doesn’t just make it easy to call Congress — it gives you a direct line to Pai’s office at the FCC, too. The site’s net neutrality page includes short instructions and scripts for you to read from, so you can speak with confidence.
Check it out here.
3. Free Press Action Fund
Call your members of Congress. Tell them to oppose the FCC’s plan to end #NetNeutrality. Our call tool makes it easy: https://t.co/reb5iyjIAk
— Free Press Action (@freepressaction) November 21, 2017
The Free Press Action Fund finds the right numbers for you to call just by your ZIP code. You can take action at the Free Press website and also on the Save the Internet site.
4. Electronic Frontier Foundation
The FCC’s new plan will create a future where only the largest Internet & cable, & telephone companies will survive while every start-up, small business, & new innovators are crowded out, & the voice of nonprofits and ordinary individuals are suppressed. https://t.co/DTaMdWmKDQ
— EFF (@EFF) November 21, 2017
Not into phone calls? No problem. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defends “your civil liberties in a digital world,” has a tool that lets you customize an email message to your representatives.
Find it here.
5. CREDO Action
CREDO statement on the FCC order dismantling #NetNeutrality: "This decision is bad for our economy, our free speech and our democracy." https://t.co/zZawMW8EXF pic.twitter.com/TaQcdHe4U4
— CREDO Mobile (@CREDOMobile) November 21, 2017
Progressive change organization CREDO Action has a clearly outlined, step-by-step guide for calling your reps about net neutrality.
Click here to use the tool.
6. ACLU
The FCC introduced a plan to completely repeal #NetNeutrality. Call Congress NOW before it's too late. https://t.co/edAOIrEi2R
#SaveNetNeutrality— ACLU (@ACLU) November 21, 2017
The ACLU is known for taking action on a variety of social issues, and it’s partnering with Fight for the Future and the Harry Potter Alliance to fight for net neutrality.
Find the organization’s call tool and a helpful script here.
BONUS: Consider donating to impactful organizations
Beyond calling Congress, various grassroots efforts are leading the charge to make sure the government hears your voice on net neutrality.
Here are a few organizations that you can support:
- Fight for the Future
- Demand Progress
- Free Press
- Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Access Now
- Public Knowledge
WATCH: What is net neutrality?
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]]>The post The Internet is under attack: This is the Battle for the Net appeared first on P2P Foundation.
]]>What is net neutrality?
Net neutrality is the principle that Internet providers like Comcast & Verizon should not control what we see and do online. In 2015, startups, Internet freedom groups, and 3.7 million commenters won strong net neutrality rules from the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC). The rules prohibit from blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization—”fast lanes” for sites that pay, and slow lanes for everyone else.
We are Team Internet. We support net neutrality, freedom of speech.
Nearly everyone who understands and depends on the Internet supports net neutrality, whether they’re startup founders, activists, gamers, politicians, investors, comedians, YouTube stars, or typical Internet users who just want their Internet to work as advertised—regardless of their political party. But don’t take our word for it. Ask around, or watch some of these videos.
They are Team Cable. They want to end net neutrality, to control & tax the Internet.
Cable companies are famous for high prices and poor service. Several rank as the most hated companies in America. Now, they’re lobbying the FCC and Congress to end net neutrality. Why? It’s simple: if they win the power to slow sites down, they can bully any site into paying millions to escape the “slow lane.” This would amount to a tax on every sector of the American economy. Every site would cost more, since they’d all have to pay big cable. Worse, it would extinguish the startups and independent voices who can’t afford to pay. If we lose net neutrality, the Internet will never be the same.
Send a letter to defend net neutrality.
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