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While Chairman FCC Aijit Pai has been busy meeting with greedy industry lobbyists and executives, people in almost every state across the country have been meeting with hundreds of lawmakers and their staffers, mobilizing people in their communities and speaking out on behalf of the open internet. (Photo: Free Press)
Seven Things You Can Do Right Now to Save the Internet
It's time to get loud and tell everyone that our digital civil rights are on the verge of being destroyed.
Nov 22, 2017
According to reports, the FCC will vote on Dec. 14 to destroy Net Neutrality and allow for online discrimination.
Time to hit play on Wake Up Everybody, a song covered by John Legend and the Roots, and sing along:
"Wake up everybody no more sleepin' in bed ... the world won't get no better if we just let it be.
The world won't get no better.
We gotta change it yeah, just you and me."
After you're finished singing, hit the phones and prepare to get in the streets. It's time to get loud and tell everyone that our digital civil rights are on the verge of being destroyed.
Here are seven steps you can take right now to save the internet:
1. Sign up to volunteer with Team Internet, a grassroots group of connected Net Neutrality supporters run by Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and Free Press Action Fund. It takes five minutes to sign up for a special volunteer text-team shift to message other open-internet supporters about the news and invite them to take action. Get texting from the comfort of your own home!
2. Call Congress and tell your lawmakers to save Net Neutrality. We need to do all we can to get as many members of Congress as possible to speak out against FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan to gut the open internet. But we're hearing from lawmakers who are on the fence that they need to hear from more constituents in order to act on this. Make their phones ring off the hook.
3. Attend a protest at a Verizon store near you on Dec 7. On that day -- exactly a week before the FCC votes on Pai's terrible plan -- internet users will gather to highlight Verizon's role in locking down and controlling our internet. (Did we mention Pai used to work for Verizon?)
4. Don't see a protest near you? Set one up! It's easy, fun and we'll support you every step of the way by providing you with training, tools, recruitment ... even signs!
5. If you're on the East Coast, save the date and join us for a big Net Neutrality rally in Washington, D.C., on Dec 14, the day the FCC will vote on Pai's plan. This event is organized by the Voices for Internet Freedom Coalition -- 18 Million Rising, the Center for Media Justice, Color Of Change, Free Press Action Fund and the National Hispanic Media Coalition -- which fights to protect the digital rights of communities of color.
6. Tell your friends! Send them to organizations like Free Press Action Fund, Center for Media Justice, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and Color Of Change, which will give them everything they need to take action right now. Find all of these organizations on social and post using #NetNeutrality and #TeamInternet.
7. Don't have time for any of that but still want to help? Donate! Every little bit helps, and at Free Press Action Fund, a generous donor will match every dollar you give by Dec. 31.
While Chairman Pai has been busy meeting with greedy industry lobbyists and executives, he shouldn't ignore the tens of millions of people who are joining together to reject his Net Neutrality-killing plan.
People in almost every state across the country have been meeting with hundreds of lawmakers and their staffers, mobilizing people in their communities and speaking out on behalf of the open internet.
We know that Net Neutrality is essential to sharing and accessing information on absolutely everything, and it can even provide a crucial connection to life-saving conversations.
"As someone with social-anxiety disorder and depression, I rely on the internet for socialization and support," wrote Heather from West Lafayette, Indiana, in a comment to the FCC. "I need a place to find people who share my struggles. I need a place to build a support network. I need a place to share my writing. Don't ruin my freedom of speech (and my life) by getting rid of Net Neutrality."
"As a small-business owner who does virtually all my business online," wrote Tracy from Indianapolis, "ending Net Neutrality would kill my business."
Check out what thousands of people have to say on why the open internet is essential to their everyday lives, work, businesses, family connections and activism.
For vulnerable communities, this moment is especially urgent. Net Neutrality makes the internet a place where people of color and religious minorities can organize for liberation while countering false narratives and harmful stereotypes.
Our message to Pai and companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon is clear: People everywhere will not sit idly by as you destroy the free and open internet.
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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Mary Alice Crim
Mary Alice Crim is the engagement and events director for the media reform group Free Press.
ajit paicomcastcorporate powerfccfight for the futurefree pressnet neutralityopen internettechnologyverizon
According to reports, the FCC will vote on Dec. 14 to destroy Net Neutrality and allow for online discrimination.
Time to hit play on Wake Up Everybody, a song covered by John Legend and the Roots, and sing along:
"Wake up everybody no more sleepin' in bed ... the world won't get no better if we just let it be.
The world won't get no better.
We gotta change it yeah, just you and me."
After you're finished singing, hit the phones and prepare to get in the streets. It's time to get loud and tell everyone that our digital civil rights are on the verge of being destroyed.
Here are seven steps you can take right now to save the internet:
1. Sign up to volunteer with Team Internet, a grassroots group of connected Net Neutrality supporters run by Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and Free Press Action Fund. It takes five minutes to sign up for a special volunteer text-team shift to message other open-internet supporters about the news and invite them to take action. Get texting from the comfort of your own home!
2. Call Congress and tell your lawmakers to save Net Neutrality. We need to do all we can to get as many members of Congress as possible to speak out against FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan to gut the open internet. But we're hearing from lawmakers who are on the fence that they need to hear from more constituents in order to act on this. Make their phones ring off the hook.
3. Attend a protest at a Verizon store near you on Dec 7. On that day -- exactly a week before the FCC votes on Pai's terrible plan -- internet users will gather to highlight Verizon's role in locking down and controlling our internet. (Did we mention Pai used to work for Verizon?)
4. Don't see a protest near you? Set one up! It's easy, fun and we'll support you every step of the way by providing you with training, tools, recruitment ... even signs!
5. If you're on the East Coast, save the date and join us for a big Net Neutrality rally in Washington, D.C., on Dec 14, the day the FCC will vote on Pai's plan. This event is organized by the Voices for Internet Freedom Coalition -- 18 Million Rising, the Center for Media Justice, Color Of Change, Free Press Action Fund and the National Hispanic Media Coalition -- which fights to protect the digital rights of communities of color.
6. Tell your friends! Send them to organizations like Free Press Action Fund, Center for Media Justice, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and Color Of Change, which will give them everything they need to take action right now. Find all of these organizations on social and post using #NetNeutrality and #TeamInternet.
7. Don't have time for any of that but still want to help? Donate! Every little bit helps, and at Free Press Action Fund, a generous donor will match every dollar you give by Dec. 31.
While Chairman Pai has been busy meeting with greedy industry lobbyists and executives, he shouldn't ignore the tens of millions of people who are joining together to reject his Net Neutrality-killing plan.
People in almost every state across the country have been meeting with hundreds of lawmakers and their staffers, mobilizing people in their communities and speaking out on behalf of the open internet.
We know that Net Neutrality is essential to sharing and accessing information on absolutely everything, and it can even provide a crucial connection to life-saving conversations.
"As someone with social-anxiety disorder and depression, I rely on the internet for socialization and support," wrote Heather from West Lafayette, Indiana, in a comment to the FCC. "I need a place to find people who share my struggles. I need a place to build a support network. I need a place to share my writing. Don't ruin my freedom of speech (and my life) by getting rid of Net Neutrality."
"As a small-business owner who does virtually all my business online," wrote Tracy from Indianapolis, "ending Net Neutrality would kill my business."
Check out what thousands of people have to say on why the open internet is essential to their everyday lives, work, businesses, family connections and activism.
For vulnerable communities, this moment is especially urgent. Net Neutrality makes the internet a place where people of color and religious minorities can organize for liberation while countering false narratives and harmful stereotypes.
Our message to Pai and companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon is clear: People everywhere will not sit idly by as you destroy the free and open internet.
Mary Alice Crim
Mary Alice Crim is the engagement and events director for the media reform group Free Press.
According to reports, the FCC will vote on Dec. 14 to destroy Net Neutrality and allow for online discrimination.
Time to hit play on Wake Up Everybody, a song covered by John Legend and the Roots, and sing along:
"Wake up everybody no more sleepin' in bed ... the world won't get no better if we just let it be.
The world won't get no better.
We gotta change it yeah, just you and me."
After you're finished singing, hit the phones and prepare to get in the streets. It's time to get loud and tell everyone that our digital civil rights are on the verge of being destroyed.
Here are seven steps you can take right now to save the internet:
1. Sign up to volunteer with Team Internet, a grassroots group of connected Net Neutrality supporters run by Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and Free Press Action Fund. It takes five minutes to sign up for a special volunteer text-team shift to message other open-internet supporters about the news and invite them to take action. Get texting from the comfort of your own home!
2. Call Congress and tell your lawmakers to save Net Neutrality. We need to do all we can to get as many members of Congress as possible to speak out against FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan to gut the open internet. But we're hearing from lawmakers who are on the fence that they need to hear from more constituents in order to act on this. Make their phones ring off the hook.
3. Attend a protest at a Verizon store near you on Dec 7. On that day -- exactly a week before the FCC votes on Pai's terrible plan -- internet users will gather to highlight Verizon's role in locking down and controlling our internet. (Did we mention Pai used to work for Verizon?)
4. Don't see a protest near you? Set one up! It's easy, fun and we'll support you every step of the way by providing you with training, tools, recruitment ... even signs!
5. If you're on the East Coast, save the date and join us for a big Net Neutrality rally in Washington, D.C., on Dec 14, the day the FCC will vote on Pai's plan. This event is organized by the Voices for Internet Freedom Coalition -- 18 Million Rising, the Center for Media Justice, Color Of Change, Free Press Action Fund and the National Hispanic Media Coalition -- which fights to protect the digital rights of communities of color.
6. Tell your friends! Send them to organizations like Free Press Action Fund, Center for Media Justice, Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and Color Of Change, which will give them everything they need to take action right now. Find all of these organizations on social and post using #NetNeutrality and #TeamInternet.
7. Don't have time for any of that but still want to help? Donate! Every little bit helps, and at Free Press Action Fund, a generous donor will match every dollar you give by Dec. 31.
While Chairman Pai has been busy meeting with greedy industry lobbyists and executives, he shouldn't ignore the tens of millions of people who are joining together to reject his Net Neutrality-killing plan.
People in almost every state across the country have been meeting with hundreds of lawmakers and their staffers, mobilizing people in their communities and speaking out on behalf of the open internet.
We know that Net Neutrality is essential to sharing and accessing information on absolutely everything, and it can even provide a crucial connection to life-saving conversations.
"As someone with social-anxiety disorder and depression, I rely on the internet for socialization and support," wrote Heather from West Lafayette, Indiana, in a comment to the FCC. "I need a place to find people who share my struggles. I need a place to build a support network. I need a place to share my writing. Don't ruin my freedom of speech (and my life) by getting rid of Net Neutrality."
"As a small-business owner who does virtually all my business online," wrote Tracy from Indianapolis, "ending Net Neutrality would kill my business."
Check out what thousands of people have to say on why the open internet is essential to their everyday lives, work, businesses, family connections and activism.
For vulnerable communities, this moment is especially urgent. Net Neutrality makes the internet a place where people of color and religious minorities can organize for liberation while countering false narratives and harmful stereotypes.
Our message to Pai and companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon is clear: People everywhere will not sit idly by as you destroy the free and open internet.
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