Sammi LeMaster helps to dismantle a large alarm clock display that reads "Net Neutrality Wake Up Call" from the stage after a protest at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, Dec. 14, 2017. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Mar 04, 2019
After sustained grassroots activism made net neutrality a key component of the Democratic Party's agenda in the new Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that Democrats plan to introduce legislation on Wednesday to restore the open internet protections repealed by the Republican-controlled FCC last year.
"Because of grassroots activism, lawmakers are making the restoration of net neutrality a top priority this Congress."
--Demand Progress
While the text of the bill--formally titled the "Save the Internet Act"--has not yet been released, net neutrality campaigners and policy experts expressed hope that the bill will aim to fully restore the strong open internet protections killed by the FCC, which is currently chaired by former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai.
"The bill isn't out yet, but we hope it will give a congressional stamp of approval to the FCC's 2015 net neutrality rules and the whole Open Internet Order," Tim Karr, senior director of strategy and communications at Free Press, told Common Dreams. "That's crucial, because the legal framework already in Title II is the baseline for guaranteeing the full range protections demanded by internet users, including overwhelming majorities of Democratic and Republican voters."
The renewed congressional effort to restore net neutrality comes after the House failed to pass a resolution to overturn the FCC's repeal before the deadline last December. The Senate passed the resolution last May by a 52-47 vote.
Following Pelosi's announcement on Monday, the advocacy group Demand Progress credited open internet supporters nationwide for keeping up the pressure on their members of Congress to restore net neutrality rules, which are supported by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Americans.
"Because of grassroots activism, lawmakers are making the restoration of net neutrality a top priority this Congress," the group said on Twitter. "Activists have kept this issue alive and have refused, flat out, to give Big Cable lobbyists a win--let's keep making noise until protections are 100 percent restored!"
\u201cBecause of grassroots activism, lawmakers are making the restoration of #NetNeutrality a top priority this Congress.\n\nActivists have kept this issue alive and have refused, flat out, to give Big Cable lobbyists a win \u2014 let's keep MAKING NOISE until protections are 100% restored!\u201d— Demand Progress (@Demand Progress) 1551744247
Fight for the Future, which has been at the center of open internet activism nationwide, echoed the call to turn up the heat on lawmakers until net neutrality protections are reinstated.
"For months lawmakers have been promising to overturn Ajit Pai's net neutrality repeal. Now news just broke that they will introduce legislation to reinstate strong rules this Wednesday," Fight for the Future wrote in a series of tweets on Monday. "Now that the news is in the headlines the telecom lobbyists are gearing up to swarm Capitol Hill. We need to push lawmakers extra hard to support the new legislation before the lobbyists get to 'em. Call your lawmakers ASAP."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
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. Our Summer Campaign is now underway, and there’s never been a more urgent time for Common Dreams to be as vigilant as possible. 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 |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
ajit paidemocratic partyfccfight for the futurefree pressnet neutralityopen internettechnologyus houseverizon
After sustained grassroots activism made net neutrality a key component of the Democratic Party's agenda in the new Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that Democrats plan to introduce legislation on Wednesday to restore the open internet protections repealed by the Republican-controlled FCC last year.
"Because of grassroots activism, lawmakers are making the restoration of net neutrality a top priority this Congress."
--Demand Progress
While the text of the bill--formally titled the "Save the Internet Act"--has not yet been released, net neutrality campaigners and policy experts expressed hope that the bill will aim to fully restore the strong open internet protections killed by the FCC, which is currently chaired by former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai.
"The bill isn't out yet, but we hope it will give a congressional stamp of approval to the FCC's 2015 net neutrality rules and the whole Open Internet Order," Tim Karr, senior director of strategy and communications at Free Press, told Common Dreams. "That's crucial, because the legal framework already in Title II is the baseline for guaranteeing the full range protections demanded by internet users, including overwhelming majorities of Democratic and Republican voters."
The renewed congressional effort to restore net neutrality comes after the House failed to pass a resolution to overturn the FCC's repeal before the deadline last December. The Senate passed the resolution last May by a 52-47 vote.
Following Pelosi's announcement on Monday, the advocacy group Demand Progress credited open internet supporters nationwide for keeping up the pressure on their members of Congress to restore net neutrality rules, which are supported by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Americans.
"Because of grassroots activism, lawmakers are making the restoration of net neutrality a top priority this Congress," the group said on Twitter. "Activists have kept this issue alive and have refused, flat out, to give Big Cable lobbyists a win--let's keep making noise until protections are 100 percent restored!"
\u201cBecause of grassroots activism, lawmakers are making the restoration of #NetNeutrality a top priority this Congress.\n\nActivists have kept this issue alive and have refused, flat out, to give Big Cable lobbyists a win \u2014 let's keep MAKING NOISE until protections are 100% restored!\u201d— Demand Progress (@Demand Progress) 1551744247
Fight for the Future, which has been at the center of open internet activism nationwide, echoed the call to turn up the heat on lawmakers until net neutrality protections are reinstated.
"For months lawmakers have been promising to overturn Ajit Pai's net neutrality repeal. Now news just broke that they will introduce legislation to reinstate strong rules this Wednesday," Fight for the Future wrote in a series of tweets on Monday. "Now that the news is in the headlines the telecom lobbyists are gearing up to swarm Capitol Hill. We need to push lawmakers extra hard to support the new legislation before the lobbyists get to 'em. Call your lawmakers ASAP."
After sustained grassroots activism made net neutrality a key component of the Democratic Party's agenda in the new Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that Democrats plan to introduce legislation on Wednesday to restore the open internet protections repealed by the Republican-controlled FCC last year.
"Because of grassroots activism, lawmakers are making the restoration of net neutrality a top priority this Congress."
--Demand Progress
While the text of the bill--formally titled the "Save the Internet Act"--has not yet been released, net neutrality campaigners and policy experts expressed hope that the bill will aim to fully restore the strong open internet protections killed by the FCC, which is currently chaired by former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai.
"The bill isn't out yet, but we hope it will give a congressional stamp of approval to the FCC's 2015 net neutrality rules and the whole Open Internet Order," Tim Karr, senior director of strategy and communications at Free Press, told Common Dreams. "That's crucial, because the legal framework already in Title II is the baseline for guaranteeing the full range protections demanded by internet users, including overwhelming majorities of Democratic and Republican voters."
The renewed congressional effort to restore net neutrality comes after the House failed to pass a resolution to overturn the FCC's repeal before the deadline last December. The Senate passed the resolution last May by a 52-47 vote.
Following Pelosi's announcement on Monday, the advocacy group Demand Progress credited open internet supporters nationwide for keeping up the pressure on their members of Congress to restore net neutrality rules, which are supported by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Americans.
"Because of grassroots activism, lawmakers are making the restoration of net neutrality a top priority this Congress," the group said on Twitter. "Activists have kept this issue alive and have refused, flat out, to give Big Cable lobbyists a win--let's keep making noise until protections are 100 percent restored!"
\u201cBecause of grassroots activism, lawmakers are making the restoration of #NetNeutrality a top priority this Congress.\n\nActivists have kept this issue alive and have refused, flat out, to give Big Cable lobbyists a win \u2014 let's keep MAKING NOISE until protections are 100% restored!\u201d— Demand Progress (@Demand Progress) 1551744247
Fight for the Future, which has been at the center of open internet activism nationwide, echoed the call to turn up the heat on lawmakers until net neutrality protections are reinstated.
"For months lawmakers have been promising to overturn Ajit Pai's net neutrality repeal. Now news just broke that they will introduce legislation to reinstate strong rules this Wednesday," Fight for the Future wrote in a series of tweets on Monday. "Now that the news is in the headlines the telecom lobbyists are gearing up to swarm Capitol Hill. We need to push lawmakers extra hard to support the new legislation before the lobbyists get to 'em. Call your lawmakers ASAP."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.