SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
"By signing the Cities Open Internet Pledge, mayors are posing a direct challenge to the FCC's wrong-headed decision to gut net neutrality protections," said Timothy Karr, senior director of strategy for Free Press. (Photo: Free Press)
As advocacy groups and open internet defenders in Congress continue their efforts to repeal the Republican-controlled FCC's attack on net neutrality, the mayors of 11 cities have signed a new pledge vowing to refuse to do business with internet service providers that don't support net neutrality.
"We will not do business with any vendor that does not honor net neutrality. We need to name and shame any company that doesn't honor net neutrality."
--Bill de Blasio, New York City mayor
Titled the Cities Open Internet Pledge (pdf), the initiative was first introduced by the mayors of New York City, Austin, and Portland, Oregon on Sunday during the South by Southwest conference in Texas.
"We will not do business with any vendor that does not honor net neutrality," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a panel discussion. "We need to name and shame any company that doesn't honor net neutrality."
Since Sunday, eight more mayors have signaled their support for the pledge, which calls on cities to only work with internet companies "that do not block, throttle, or provide paid prioritization of content on sites that cities run to provide critical services and information to their residents."
"We each commit our city to take all available steps to ensure the internet remains open and to keep gatekeepers from throttling, blocking, or limiting government content on the internet to the extent permitted by law and within our control," the pledge reads.
"By signing the Cities Open Internet Pledge, mayors are posing a direct challenge to the FCC's wrong-headed decision to gut net neutrality protections," said Timothy Karr, senior director of strategy for Free Press, which teamed up with the coalition of mayors to launch MayorsForNetNeutrality.org, where supporters of net neutrality can sign a petition calling on city leaders to sign the new pledge.
"Town by town, city by city, local leaders are taking back everyone's right to connect and communicate," Karr added in a statement on Monday. "They're saying that access to an open internet is vital to the livelihood of cities and their inhabitants."
The new initiative comes as the FCC's attack on net neutrality--spearheaded by agency chair and former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai--is facing challenges on numerous fronts. As Common Dreams reported, Washington last week became the first state in the nation to implement a law protecting net neutrality from the federal rollback.
The Senate, meanwhile, needs just one more vote to pass a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would restore net neutrality by repealing the FCC's rule. If it passes the Senate, the resolution will move to the House, where it will need 218 votes.
Below is a full list of the mayors--and the one county representative--who have signed the Cities Open Internet Pledge:
Mayor Bill de Blasio -- New York, New York
Mayor Steve Adler -- Austin, Texas
Mayor Ted Wheeler -- Portland, Oregon
Mayor Ron Nirenberg -- San Antonio, Texas
Mayor Sly James -- Kansas City, Missouri
Mayor Mark Farrell -- San Francisco, California
Mayor Catherine E. Pugh -- Baltimore, Maryland
Mayor Barney Seney -- Putnam, Connecticut
Mayor Paul Soglin -- Madison, Wisconsin
Mayor Sam Liccardo -- San Jose, California
Mayor Jacob Frey -- Minneapolis, Minnesota
County Board of Supervisors Chair Zach Friend -- Santa Cruz County, California
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
As advocacy groups and open internet defenders in Congress continue their efforts to repeal the Republican-controlled FCC's attack on net neutrality, the mayors of 11 cities have signed a new pledge vowing to refuse to do business with internet service providers that don't support net neutrality.
"We will not do business with any vendor that does not honor net neutrality. We need to name and shame any company that doesn't honor net neutrality."
--Bill de Blasio, New York City mayor
Titled the Cities Open Internet Pledge (pdf), the initiative was first introduced by the mayors of New York City, Austin, and Portland, Oregon on Sunday during the South by Southwest conference in Texas.
"We will not do business with any vendor that does not honor net neutrality," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a panel discussion. "We need to name and shame any company that doesn't honor net neutrality."
Since Sunday, eight more mayors have signaled their support for the pledge, which calls on cities to only work with internet companies "that do not block, throttle, or provide paid prioritization of content on sites that cities run to provide critical services and information to their residents."
"We each commit our city to take all available steps to ensure the internet remains open and to keep gatekeepers from throttling, blocking, or limiting government content on the internet to the extent permitted by law and within our control," the pledge reads.
"By signing the Cities Open Internet Pledge, mayors are posing a direct challenge to the FCC's wrong-headed decision to gut net neutrality protections," said Timothy Karr, senior director of strategy for Free Press, which teamed up with the coalition of mayors to launch MayorsForNetNeutrality.org, where supporters of net neutrality can sign a petition calling on city leaders to sign the new pledge.
"Town by town, city by city, local leaders are taking back everyone's right to connect and communicate," Karr added in a statement on Monday. "They're saying that access to an open internet is vital to the livelihood of cities and their inhabitants."
The new initiative comes as the FCC's attack on net neutrality--spearheaded by agency chair and former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai--is facing challenges on numerous fronts. As Common Dreams reported, Washington last week became the first state in the nation to implement a law protecting net neutrality from the federal rollback.
The Senate, meanwhile, needs just one more vote to pass a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would restore net neutrality by repealing the FCC's rule. If it passes the Senate, the resolution will move to the House, where it will need 218 votes.
Below is a full list of the mayors--and the one county representative--who have signed the Cities Open Internet Pledge:
Mayor Bill de Blasio -- New York, New York
Mayor Steve Adler -- Austin, Texas
Mayor Ted Wheeler -- Portland, Oregon
Mayor Ron Nirenberg -- San Antonio, Texas
Mayor Sly James -- Kansas City, Missouri
Mayor Mark Farrell -- San Francisco, California
Mayor Catherine E. Pugh -- Baltimore, Maryland
Mayor Barney Seney -- Putnam, Connecticut
Mayor Paul Soglin -- Madison, Wisconsin
Mayor Sam Liccardo -- San Jose, California
Mayor Jacob Frey -- Minneapolis, Minnesota
County Board of Supervisors Chair Zach Friend -- Santa Cruz County, California
As advocacy groups and open internet defenders in Congress continue their efforts to repeal the Republican-controlled FCC's attack on net neutrality, the mayors of 11 cities have signed a new pledge vowing to refuse to do business with internet service providers that don't support net neutrality.
"We will not do business with any vendor that does not honor net neutrality. We need to name and shame any company that doesn't honor net neutrality."
--Bill de Blasio, New York City mayor
Titled the Cities Open Internet Pledge (pdf), the initiative was first introduced by the mayors of New York City, Austin, and Portland, Oregon on Sunday during the South by Southwest conference in Texas.
"We will not do business with any vendor that does not honor net neutrality," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a panel discussion. "We need to name and shame any company that doesn't honor net neutrality."
Since Sunday, eight more mayors have signaled their support for the pledge, which calls on cities to only work with internet companies "that do not block, throttle, or provide paid prioritization of content on sites that cities run to provide critical services and information to their residents."
"We each commit our city to take all available steps to ensure the internet remains open and to keep gatekeepers from throttling, blocking, or limiting government content on the internet to the extent permitted by law and within our control," the pledge reads.
"By signing the Cities Open Internet Pledge, mayors are posing a direct challenge to the FCC's wrong-headed decision to gut net neutrality protections," said Timothy Karr, senior director of strategy for Free Press, which teamed up with the coalition of mayors to launch MayorsForNetNeutrality.org, where supporters of net neutrality can sign a petition calling on city leaders to sign the new pledge.
"Town by town, city by city, local leaders are taking back everyone's right to connect and communicate," Karr added in a statement on Monday. "They're saying that access to an open internet is vital to the livelihood of cities and their inhabitants."
The new initiative comes as the FCC's attack on net neutrality--spearheaded by agency chair and former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai--is facing challenges on numerous fronts. As Common Dreams reported, Washington last week became the first state in the nation to implement a law protecting net neutrality from the federal rollback.
The Senate, meanwhile, needs just one more vote to pass a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would restore net neutrality by repealing the FCC's rule. If it passes the Senate, the resolution will move to the House, where it will need 218 votes.
Below is a full list of the mayors--and the one county representative--who have signed the Cities Open Internet Pledge:
Mayor Bill de Blasio -- New York, New York
Mayor Steve Adler -- Austin, Texas
Mayor Ted Wheeler -- Portland, Oregon
Mayor Ron Nirenberg -- San Antonio, Texas
Mayor Sly James -- Kansas City, Missouri
Mayor Mark Farrell -- San Francisco, California
Mayor Catherine E. Pugh -- Baltimore, Maryland
Mayor Barney Seney -- Putnam, Connecticut
Mayor Paul Soglin -- Madison, Wisconsin
Mayor Sam Liccardo -- San Jose, California
Mayor Jacob Frey -- Minneapolis, Minnesota
County Board of Supervisors Chair Zach Friend -- Santa Cruz County, California