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Join the Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality
"There's no way to resist this administration or engage in any other kind of activism online without Net Neutrality"
Jun 09, 2017
The Trump FCC is doing everything it can to destroy the open Internet--and on July 12, the Internet is fighting back.
"The loss of the open-Internet rules will kill free speech online, and will disproportionately harm the same communities--people of color, immigrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ community--the Trump team has targeted with one hateful action after the other."
On that day, companies like Amazon, Etsy, Kickstarter, Mozilla and reddit--along with individuals and groups like Free Press Action Fund, the ACLU, the American Library Association, Demand Progress and Fight for the Future--will take part in a national day of action online.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wants to dismantle Title II--the legal framework that's essential to preserving Net Neutrality--and repeal the rules themselves. That means companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon would be able to throttle or outright block content and charge content creators for speedier access.
Pai's a former Verizon lawyer who also once worked for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and he's been huddling with industry lobbyists and courting the right wing in his quest to demolish the Internet's level playing field. While he claims to support the principles of Net Neutrality, that's just another alternative fact from an administration rife with them.
We've won this same fight before: Back in May 2014, after then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler released a proposal that would have allowed broadband providers to discriminate online, advocacy groups organized the Internet Slowdown, a day when dozens of major tech companies and thousands of organizations displayed a slow-loading icon on their sites to give people a taste of what the Internet could look like without Net Neutrality.
That action--along with many other protests and the pro-Net Neutrality comments of 4 million people--pushed Wheeler to abandon his plan and enact strong open-internet protections. These are the same protections that are in danger right now.
There's no way to resist this administration or engage in any other kind of activism online without Net Neutrality. The loss of the open-Internet rules will kill free speech online, and will disproportionately harm the same communities--people of color, immigrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ community--the Trump team has targeted with one hateful action after the other.
We need to do everything we can to fight back. Sign up today to participate in the July 12 day of action.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. 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. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Amy Kroin
Amy Kroin is the editor at Free Press and Free Press Action. She is co-author, with Mike Rispoli and Kevin Davis, of the case study New Jersey's Civic Information Bill: The Story of the Campaign to Transform Local Media.
The Trump FCC is doing everything it can to destroy the open Internet--and on July 12, the Internet is fighting back.
"The loss of the open-Internet rules will kill free speech online, and will disproportionately harm the same communities--people of color, immigrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ community--the Trump team has targeted with one hateful action after the other."
On that day, companies like Amazon, Etsy, Kickstarter, Mozilla and reddit--along with individuals and groups like Free Press Action Fund, the ACLU, the American Library Association, Demand Progress and Fight for the Future--will take part in a national day of action online.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wants to dismantle Title II--the legal framework that's essential to preserving Net Neutrality--and repeal the rules themselves. That means companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon would be able to throttle or outright block content and charge content creators for speedier access.
Pai's a former Verizon lawyer who also once worked for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and he's been huddling with industry lobbyists and courting the right wing in his quest to demolish the Internet's level playing field. While he claims to support the principles of Net Neutrality, that's just another alternative fact from an administration rife with them.
We've won this same fight before: Back in May 2014, after then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler released a proposal that would have allowed broadband providers to discriminate online, advocacy groups organized the Internet Slowdown, a day when dozens of major tech companies and thousands of organizations displayed a slow-loading icon on their sites to give people a taste of what the Internet could look like without Net Neutrality.
That action--along with many other protests and the pro-Net Neutrality comments of 4 million people--pushed Wheeler to abandon his plan and enact strong open-internet protections. These are the same protections that are in danger right now.
There's no way to resist this administration or engage in any other kind of activism online without Net Neutrality. The loss of the open-Internet rules will kill free speech online, and will disproportionately harm the same communities--people of color, immigrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ community--the Trump team has targeted with one hateful action after the other.
We need to do everything we can to fight back. Sign up today to participate in the July 12 day of action.
Amy Kroin
Amy Kroin is the editor at Free Press and Free Press Action. She is co-author, with Mike Rispoli and Kevin Davis, of the case study New Jersey's Civic Information Bill: The Story of the Campaign to Transform Local Media.
The Trump FCC is doing everything it can to destroy the open Internet--and on July 12, the Internet is fighting back.
"The loss of the open-Internet rules will kill free speech online, and will disproportionately harm the same communities--people of color, immigrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ community--the Trump team has targeted with one hateful action after the other."
On that day, companies like Amazon, Etsy, Kickstarter, Mozilla and reddit--along with individuals and groups like Free Press Action Fund, the ACLU, the American Library Association, Demand Progress and Fight for the Future--will take part in a national day of action online.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wants to dismantle Title II--the legal framework that's essential to preserving Net Neutrality--and repeal the rules themselves. That means companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon would be able to throttle or outright block content and charge content creators for speedier access.
Pai's a former Verizon lawyer who also once worked for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and he's been huddling with industry lobbyists and courting the right wing in his quest to demolish the Internet's level playing field. While he claims to support the principles of Net Neutrality, that's just another alternative fact from an administration rife with them.
We've won this same fight before: Back in May 2014, after then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler released a proposal that would have allowed broadband providers to discriminate online, advocacy groups organized the Internet Slowdown, a day when dozens of major tech companies and thousands of organizations displayed a slow-loading icon on their sites to give people a taste of what the Internet could look like without Net Neutrality.
That action--along with many other protests and the pro-Net Neutrality comments of 4 million people--pushed Wheeler to abandon his plan and enact strong open-internet protections. These are the same protections that are in danger right now.
There's no way to resist this administration or engage in any other kind of activism online without Net Neutrality. The loss of the open-Internet rules will kill free speech online, and will disproportionately harm the same communities--people of color, immigrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ community--the Trump team has targeted with one hateful action after the other.
We need to do everything we can to fight back. Sign up today to participate in the July 12 day of action.
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