July, 11 2017, 05:15pm EDT
ACLU, Diverse Organizations to Participate in July 12 Net Neutrality Day of Action
ACLU Will Alter Website and Social Media to Educate Its 3 Million Supporters and Encourage Comments to FCC
WASHINGTON
The American Civil Liberties Union, tech companies, civil rights organizations, and many others will join forces tomorrow, July 12, in a day of action to oppose President Trump's Federal Communications Commission's attack on net neutrality.
Net neutrality prevents internet service providers from prioritizing data for organizations that they favor or who pay more. The rules keep the internet open, free, and unrestricted, preventing ISPs from becoming gatekeepers that can control and manipulate what people access on the internet.
"Several years ago, the ACLU helped win many of the net neutrality protections we enjoy today," said Ronald Newman, ACLU director of strategic initiatives. "Now, former Verizon lawyer and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wants to take all of that away and reverse years of precedent and practice. This will lead to an internet where activists, news organizations, and those with minority viewpoints will be at risk of losing an essential platform."
As part of the net neutrality day of action, the ACLU will change its logo on Facebook and Twitter to one that says "Save Net Neutrality." ACLU.org will greet everyone that visits on this day with a GIF that simulates the effect of slowing down the website, a symbolic nod to what abolishing net neutrality would mean for the internet. The ACLU will be encouraging its over 3 million supporters to submit to the FCC comments against the dismantling of net neutrality.
"Internet service providers shouldn't be allowed to mess with the data that we pay them to transport," said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst at the ACLU. "This is a free speech issue. With the power to restrict access and speeds for websites and content of their choosing, corporations like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T will have the power to distort the flow of data and the marketplace of ideas online. The predictable result will be to benefit those with conventional views and those who can pay more."
Other participants in the day of action include Amazon, Etsy, Mozilla, Kickstarter, Netflix, Reddit, Vimeo, Fight for the Future, Center for Media Justice, Free Press, and Demand Justice, among others. The full list can be found here: https://www.battleforthenet.com/july12.
This statement is online here:
https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-diverse-organizations-participate-july-12-net-neutrality-day-action
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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'Make Polio Great Again': Alarm Over RFK Jr. Lawyer Who Targeted Vaccine
"So if you're wondering if Donald Trump is trying to kill your kids, yes, yes he is," said one critic.
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Public health advocates, federal lawmakers, and other critics responded with alarm to The New York Timesreporting on Friday that an attorney helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. select officials for the next Trump administration tried to get the U.S. regulators to revoke approval of the polio vaccine in 2022.
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According to the newspaper:
Mr. Siri is also representing ICAN in petitioning the FDA to "pause distribution" of 13 other vaccines, including combination products that cover tetanus, diphtheria, polio, and hepatitis A, until their makers disclose details about aluminum, an ingredient researchers have associated with a small increase in asthma cases.
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Ryan Cooper, managing editor at The American Prospect, warned that "they want your kids dead."
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Multiple critics altered Trump's campaign slogan to "Make Polio Great Again."
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded with a video on social media:
Without naming anyone, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor, put out a lengthy statement on Friday.
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