The word is that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is formulating his final rules on net neutrality right now and he seems to be ignoring the more than 4 million people who submitted public comments, 99% of whom favored reclassification of the Internet as a public utility so that there cannot be discrimination. Despite the President’s announcement in favor of reclassification, Wheeler is stalling.
This is a crisis of democracy. We must step up the pressure.
Wednesday, November 12: Picket at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, 25 Massachusetts Ave., NW in Washington, DC at noon.
Thursday, November 13: #PartyAtTheFCC at 445 12th St., SW in Washington, DC from 6 to 9 pm. We’ll provide music, food, drink and glow sticks. Bring your cell phones. Click here for the Facebook page. If you can’t be in DC, organize a solidarity action where you are. Click here to post it on the map!
Here’s the plan:
1. Sign the pledge to take action below and on Monday, you will receive an email with further instructions. All that we can say now is that you should prepare to block off time on Thursday evening at 6 pm for rallies in your community. Pick a location and spread the word. We’ll have a map tool that you can use soon.
2. Call the FCC and White House. Our partner, Fight for the Future, is organizing a tidal wave of phone calls to the FCC and White House every day and it’s working. It only takes a few minutes. Click here for more details. Swamp the FCC with calls, show them the future of the Internet is something we take seriously.
3. Show that #OurVoicesMatter. Recent events, like police abuse all across the country, especially in Ferguson, MO, and the brutal militarized police response when the communities protested, were made more visible because of social media. Research by Pew shows that “Overall, 73% of African American internet users—and 96% of those ages 18-29—use a social networking site of some kind.” But the NAACP, funded by AT&T, came out on the wrong side of net neutrality. We need to counteract that by showing that people of all colors deserve to be seen and heard. The citizens media provides a counterbalance to the corporate media, don’t let the FCC take that away.
Send us a photo or video of you holding a sign that says “#OurVoicesMatter, #RealNetNeutrality.” Submit your photo here.
It’s that easy – 1, 2, 3 – and we can save the Internet!