August, 26 2019, 12:00am EDT
Netroots Groups Call for 2020 Candidates to Pledge to Restore Net Neutrality
A coalition of major netroots groups representing millions of members are launching an activism effort to urge presidential candidates to support strong net neutrality and reject telecom donations
WASHINGTON
Today, a broad coalition of some of the country's largest net neutrality advocacy groups are launching an activism site and pledge, which asks all 2020 presidential candidates to support strong net neutrality and reject telecom donations.
In April, the Save the Internet Act--which would restore the net neutrality protections repealed by Chairman Ajit Pai's FCC--passed the House. However, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has declared the legislation 'dead on arrival in the Senate.' In the face of this obstruction, activists are urging all presidential candidates to strongly commit to restoring open internet protections crucial to free expression, civil rights and small businesses, by pledging to appoint commissioners who will restore Title II-based net neutrality protections.
The pledge highlights the need for the FCC to prohibit ISPs from using harmful zero-rating practices and interconnection agreements to circumvent net neutrality.
It also calls for candidates to reject the influence of the telecom industry--which has long fought to oppose common-sense net neutrality protections--by not accepting campaign contributions from phone and cable company executives, lobbyists, and PACs.
"It's not enough for candidates to simply say they support net neutrality,"said Mark Stanley, director of communications for Demand Progress, which organized the effort. "We're looking for specific commitments from candidates to appoint commissioners who will restore the Title II-based net neutrality protections repealed by the FCC, and who will close dangerous loopholes that allow ISPs to create fast lanes and unfairly privilege some apps over others.
"The FCC's net neutrality repeal ignored the voices of millions from across the political spectrum, in what ended up being one of the biggest and most undemocratic giveaways to the telecom industry we've ever seen. For too long, phone and cable companies have exerted in an undue influence in Washington, by pushing unpopular policies that harm the American people's ability to communicate and access crucial services online. It's time candidates fight this corrosive influence by refusing telecom industry money."
Website: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/2020-net-neutrality/
Pledge:
We ask all 2020 presidential candidates to publicly call for the restoration of strong open internet protections; reject contributions from phone and cable company executives, lobbyists, and PACs; and pledge to appoint FCC Commissioners who will:
- Restore all of the Title II-based net neutrality rules, enforcement authority, broadband competition and consumer protections the FCC eliminated in 2017
- Enforce a ban on circumventing net neutrality at the point where data enters ISPs' networks
- Ban harmful forms of 'zero-rating' that advantage some apps over others or require apps to pay fees
Endorsing organizations:
- Demand Progress
- Progress America
- California Clean Money Action Fund
- Climate Hawks Vote
- Color Of Change
- Common Cause
- Daily Kos
- Democracy for America
- Friends of the Earth Action
- Fight for the Future
- Free Press Action Fund
- People Demanding Action
- People For the American Way
- Presente Action
- RootsAction.org
- Social Security Works
- The Other 98%
- Watchdog.net
Demand Progress amplifies the voice of the people -- and wields it to make government accountable and contest concentrated corporate power. Our mission is to protect the democratic character of the internet -- and wield it to contest concentrated corporate power and hold government accountable.
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