Red Alert for Net Neutrality protests kick off today
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 9, 2018
Contact: Evan Greer, [email protected], 978-852-6457
Reddit, Tinder, Tumblr, Etsy, Pornhub, OK Cupid, GitHub, Match.com, Ask.com, Wikimedia, and tons of others are joining net neutrality activists to rally Internet users to contact lawmakers ahead of Senate vote
The Internet is on Red Alert starting today, as the Senate heads toward a crucial vote to overrule the FCC’s overwhelmingly unpopular repeal of net neutrality. Many of the most popular web services, as well as a broad coalition of small businesses and public interest groups, are already participating in mass online protests rallying Internet users to contact their lawmakers, and many more are expected to join between now and the Senate vote next week.
See the latest list of participants here: https://www.battleforthenet.com/redalert
See a gallery of screenshots of how sites and apps are participating here: https://imgur.com/a/UGn3gyP (will be updated throughout the day)
Major web companies like Tumblr, Tinder, Foursquare, Private Internet Access, Ask.com, Wikimedia, Pornhub, Ok Cupid, Investopedia, Reddit, Chess.com, Bittorrent, Imgur, The Nation, and Gandi.net plan to participate. Thousands of other large and small websites are expected to join. Behind the push are Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, and Free Press Action Fund, the groups that run BattleForTheNet.com and have been responsible for the largest online protests in history. They’ve helped drive millions of phone calls, emails, and tweets to lawmakers in recent years.
The CRA lets just 30 senators force a vote to overturn a recently-issued federal agency rule. On May 9th, senators will present a petition to force a vote on a resolution that would undo the FCC’s net neutrality rollback. If the resolution passes into law, it will restore the strong net neutrality protections that were put in place in 2015. The CRA faces an uphill battle to reach the 218 discharge petition signatures needed to force a vote in the House, but net neutrality activists plan to wage a fierce fight there to convince Republican lawmakers to side with their constituents and small businesses in their districts on the issue. Regardless, the outcome of the Senate vote will impact the net neutrality fight for years to come.
“The Internet is lighting up in protest once again, because this Senate vote will impact the future of the Web for years to come,” said Evan Greer, Deputy Director of Fight for the Future, “This is the most important moment in tech policy since the FCC repeal, and everyone should be paying attention. This is the moment for entire web to come together to fight. Net neutrality is not a partisan issue outside of Washington, DC. Now we need to get DC to catch up with the rest of the country.”
“Congress is fast approaching one of the most consequential votes on internet policy and free expression this century,” said Demand Progress Director of Communications Mark Stanley. “Lawmakers are going to have to make a choice, and the sides are clear. They can join with big cable companies that want to control the internet for profit. Or they can stand with the millions of Americans who rely on the open internet for news, entertainment and communication, as well as small business owners who depend on it for their livelihoods. The stakes are extremely high, and from now until the resolution hits the floor, the internet will be mobilizing on a massive scale to force Congress to vote ‘yes’ for net neutrality.”
“Congress has the chance to rewind a terrible Trump administration policy decision, and one of its least popular, too,” said Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press Action Fund. “Net Neutrality is overwhelmingly supported by people across the political spectrum: Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike. The FCC’s disastrous vote late last year led to a historic outcry Congress must not ignore. There’s only one way to stand up for real Net Neutrality — and to stand on the right side of history — and that’s by voting for the resolution of disapproval to restore these essential safeguards. The public will be closely watching who’s looking out for them and who’s only serving phone and cable lobbyists.”
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